MLB All-Star Game 2018: Time, TV channel and how to watch online

By Satchel Price

all_star_home_run_derby_baseball_77577916_e1531837462814.jpg — There will be many smiles at the MLB All-Star Game. | Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

The biggest names in baseball will be on hand for the 2018 MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The annual exhibition – no longer played to determine World Series home field advantage – is now back to being a fun, low-stakes event between the stars of the National and American Leagues.

The All-Star Game begins at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on FOX. It will also be available online on Fox Sports’ website and app.

Boston’s Chris Sale and Washington’s Max Scherzer are set to start the game on the mound for the AL and NL, respectively. Sale, the former White Sox ace, is in the middle of another amazing season with the Red Sox, posting a league-leading 2.23 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 129 innings of work. Scherzer has been similarly impressive with a 2.41 ERA and 182 strikeouts in 134.2 innings.

Cubs players bookend both sides of the NL lineup to open the game. Javy Baez is set to leadoff ahead of Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, while Willson Contreras is set to bat ninth. Both of those Cubs players earned their spots in the starting lineup through the fan vote.

Mookie Betts will lead off for the AL, which boasts a ridiculous middle of the order including Jose Altuve, Mike Trout, J.D. Martinez, Jose Ramirez, Aaron Judge and Manny Machado. Good luck with that, NL. White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu is batting eighth in that stacked lineup.

The AL has won the last five All-Star Games, including a 2-1 win in 2017, and 17 of the past 21. The NL had a three-year winning streak from 2010-12, but otherwise the past two decades of festivities have been owned by the AL. We’ll see if the NL can break through again Tuesday night.