MLB: All Rise! Judge destroys the home run derby

One night before the 88th All-Star Game in Miami, the stage in Marlins Park belonged to the power-hitters of the league. And New York Yankee rookie Aaron Judge dominated from start to finish, beating the longest home runs and trumping the competition at will. The local hero and co-favorite Giancarlo Stanton, however, was eliminated in round one.

In a fascinating power show, MLB Homun leader Aaron Judge from the New York Yankees delivered the biggest show of the evening. Even a big hurdle at the beginning with a strong appearance of Miami-Marlins-First-Baseman Justin Bour he was confident.

The first big surprise, however, was Local Hero Giancarlo Stanton’s first-round exit, who had to admit defeat to Judges teammate Gary Sanchez. All in all, a show of superlatives – four home runs broke through the neuralgic 500-foot mark – all personally through the Derby winner’s bat.

5 Miguel Sano (Minnesota Twins) – 4 Mike Moustakas (Kansas City Royals) 11:10 AM

The Third Baseman of the Twins made the beginning and took some time at first. His first swing was a long out and it wasn’t until just under a minute on his lap that the first long ball made its way to the stands. His first three home runs each went over 440 feet, so that the 30-second bonus time was quickly assured.

As a right-hander, Sano was almost exclusively betting on bulldozing, so every homer ended up in Left Field or Left-Center Field. Once he hit the sculpture. At the end of the four minutes, he was at nine homers, and two more were added in bonus time. His longest shot flew 470 feet.

Moustaka’s opponent needed something to find his momentum. But then the left-hander also started and reached nine long balls with 1:30 minutes on the clock. He, too, relied almost completely on swings towards Right Field, which is the shorter way out in Marlins Park.

After his timeout, he hit the tenth home run, but after that he didn’t manage anything. His final swing landed before the warning track. And since he only got over 440 feet – 442 feet was his maximum – there was no bonus time either. So the duel went to the man of the Twins.

#8 Gary Sanchez (New York Yankees) – #1 Giancarlo Stanton (Miami Marlins) 17:16

“El Kraken” was released and the wrestler of the Yankees showed his great power. His first two home runs each went over 460 feet. He also managed the first Opposite Field Homer of the evening, after that he maltreated the sculpture with some line drives before concentrating on moonshots in series. His longest bomb landed in the air after 483 feet.

At the end of the regular time Sanchez was at 15 home runs, after that he hammered two more things onto the stands and provided various “Ahs” and “Ohs” among the spectators. 17 was an announcement for the local hero, Giancarlo Stanton.

Stanton then presented a fast pace under pressure, but did not immediately find his momentum. A few Grounder were the result. But after he got into shape, he destroyed a pitch for 496 feet with an exit velocity of 117 miles per hour into Left Field. Around 2:30 minutes he took his timeout.

After that, the defending champion really got going and a short time later he beat a Homer over 492 feet into Right-Center Field. Several things followed, well over 480 feet, whereupon he weakened a little. Within the last ten seconds, however, two more long balls were added, so that after four minutes he was at 15 – like his opponent before.

The bonus time had to bring the decision, but only with just over ten seconds on the clock he managed the 16th home run, the 17th did not follow, because very high popups cost him too much time – you can only pitch again when the previous ball has landed somewhere. And so it came to the upset in the first round – Sanchez kicked out the top favourite Stanton!

6 Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies) – 3 Cody Bellinger (Los Angeles Dodgers) 14:15

Typically for Lead-Off-Hitter Blackmon he hit his first attempt directly on the grandstand. With his compact, fast swings he saved a lot of time, but also lost a lot of distance, which cost him the bonus time in the end – but he easily beat ten home runs, before he took his timeout with 1:19 minutes.

In the end, he hit 14 home runs, the longest landing after 434 feet. But he was also the first hitter of the evening, which did not exceed the 440-foot limit. Nevertheless, he impressed with his pace and his unagitated performance.

This was followed by the Dodgers’ super rookie, who pitched with his father Clay Bellinger, an ex-Major Leager. Bellinger also started with a good pace, but already brought his third pitch of the evening over 440 feet (441) and was therefore already longer than his opponent. After 1’50” he timed out with six long balls.

After the time-out, he quickly followed up another short home run, then it became dramatic. Number 13 came with his watch running out and went over 446 feet – bonus time! In the final 30 seconds Bellinger took the chance and beat the last two home runs with the first and the last swing – again with the clock running out – to victory.

#7 Justin Bour (Miami Marlins) – #2 Aaron Judge (New York Yankees) 22:23

In the last duel of the first round the second local hero was allowed to play and had to present with the MLB-Homerun-Leader “on Deck”. And Bour didn’t seem nervous at all. He made the story look very simple and fired one shot after another. By the time he timed out after 1:24 minutes, he was already on twelve home runs, all of which ended up in the right field and many of them on the upper deck.

After that, he really turned on the power again and made seven more home runs in the stands, so that after four minutes he had 19 long balls in his account – and put the spectators into ecstasy. In the bonus time, three more home runs followed, bringing him to a total of 22, his longest flying over 464 feet. A proper announcement for his opponent.

Then it was called “All Rise”, because the judge came to the record. The rookie was faced with a great challenge under the occasional boo-cries of the fans, but did not seem impressed at all. His first three homeruns all went to Right Field. And then he hammered a ball over 501 feet – over the sculpture in Center Field! The longest home of the evening to date.

But it wasn’t until after his timeout that he really turned up the volume. From then on he destroyed one pitch after the other and then loosely ran in at 22 when the clock stopped. Until then, he also hit a bomb against the lights in Left Field. In the bonus time, which he made clear to her loosely, he even hit the roof once, which was technically not a long ball. He then hammered the decisive one as a line drive over the wall in Left-Center Field and then won after a fantastic performance and reached the semi-finals.

Gary Sanchez (Yankees) – Miguel Sano (Twins) 10:11 AM

The semi-final started a bit more leisurely. Sanchez seemed to have trouble finding his rhythm again. He hit three early home runs, but then he started to weaken and even a timeout didn’t really help much. He still reached the bonus time, but then hit only one more and got to their ten shots.

A model that Sano then loosely used. Even though he didn’t need the bonus time – his longest homer of the round flew 491 feet – he had reached it without any trouble. Before the end of the four minutes, he made the decision and entered the final with eleven home runs – after a clear, confident performance. Sano made it look like batting practice.

Cody Bellinger (Dodgers) – Aaron Judge (Yankees) 12:13

The second semi-final was the duel between the two top favourites for the Rookie of the Year Awards of both leagues. The National League representative continued his performance from round one seamlessly and hit a few fast home runs with loose swings, but no longer had the distance. None of his home runs exceeded 440 feet – his longest flew “only” 433 feet and all went in Right Field. Nevertheless, he managed twelve long balls that first had to be surpassed. However, he seemed visibly exhausted after his lap.

Judge, on the other hand, looked as if he had just come off the tanning bed and beat his first two swings in Opposite Field. After five shots and 2:48 minutes to play he took his timeout. After that he continued the total destruction of baseballs and first hammered one over 504 feet, then one over 513 feet. His last and 13th home of the round then flew over 507 feet to decide with some time on the clock. Final!

Miguel Sano (Twins) – Aaron Judge (Yankees) 10:11 AM

Sano began and needed a little to find his momentum again. Only one home run was on his account after his first timeout at 2:34 minutes. He took his second timeout with 1:24 minutes and four home runs on the paper. His longest flew 447 feet. His strength dwindled noticeably, for numerous balls landed in the field. But then he caught fire again and hit six more long balls, whereby the last 449 feet flew and secured the bonus time.

However, the final 30 seconds did not bring home runs – Sano’s swing became longer and longer, which resulted in numerous hits in the Right Field. But all of them were too short, Sano’s power was basically exclusively in Left and Left-Center Field. But ten home runs had to be hit first.

But Judge also made this look simple. His first four swings all came out easy. He didn’t take any timeouts either and so he beat his eleventh and decisive home run with just under two minutes left on the clock.

His longest swings in the final each went over 460 feet and so it was a consistently dominant appearance of the favourite this evening.