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Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies set the mark by winning his first-round matchup with 17 home runs. Hometown starBryce Harper of the Washington Nationals headlined the field of eight players, which had several young stars set to take the stage for the first time. Jesus Aguilar of the Milwaukee Brewers entered as the surprise top seed after putting together a first-half offensive outburst. Baez, Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar, and Astros third baseman Alex Bregman were eliminated in the first round of the 2018 Home Run Derby.
In his second season with the Brewers, Aguilar already has surpassed his previous career home run total. The top seed will go up against another young slugger in Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies. The Home Run Derby will consist of an eight-player bracket, with four head-to-head matchups in the first round, two head-to-head matchups in the semifinals, and one final round between the two finalists. The Home Run Derby began with an upset when eighth-seeded Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies ousted top-seeded Jesus Aguilar of the Brewers. Aguilar had a solid showing, going for 12 home runs, but it wasn't enough to match Hoskins' 17. The hometown favorite moved on in his first-round matchup, with Nationals slugger Bryce Harper booming 13 home runs.
Round 1: Schwarber def. Bregman, 16-15
Dodgers infielder Max Muncy, who hit 17 home runs in his first-round win, appeared to run out of gas toward the end of the semifinals. The second timeout can be quite useful because the sluggers work themselves to near exhaustion as they are swinging for downs on every attempt. You often see hitters run out of premium unleaded in the 2nd round of the Derby. Alex Bregman had a furious late run, including five home runs in the final minute to pull within one of Schwarber, but Bregman’s final drive that would have forced a one-minute tiebreaker instead ended up ... If a swing-off ends in a tie, the hitters will engage in three-swing swing-offs until there is a winner.
He didn’t disappoint, blasting the winner to right-center on his second pitch of the extra round, then tossing his bat in celebration, for his first ever Home Run Derby win. Each matchup is single elimination with the player who hits the most home runs in four minutes advancing to the next round. Players can earn bonus time with long home runs and they’re entitled to a certain number of timeouts. Harper seemed to be in trouble for a bit there, but he absolutely came alive in the final minute with the crowd behind him to hit 18 homers before the end of normal time. That gave him 30 seconds to hit one homer with bonus time, which he did without strain.
Hoskins and Aguilar First Up at Nationals Park
Cubs fans will want to tune in to see Javy Baez and Kyle Schwarber, who are competing on different sides of the bracket. That means there’s a chance we could have a Baez vs. Schwarber final, which would be a lot of fun for Cubs fans and a little less fun for everyone else. This year’s event follows the same eight-man, head-to-head format used by the league over the past few years.
Schwarber, the first hitter in the final round, swatted 18 home runs, with a 453-footer ranking as his longest. Both Schwarber and Harper qualified for the 30-second bonus time in the final round, and Harper needed a furious run in the final minute to tie the score heading into his bonus time, where he pulled off the win. If two players are tied at the end of their matchup, each player will get an additional 60 seconds to break the tie. If the tie lasts beyond the bonus 60 seconds, the matchup will go to three-swing swing offs until a winner is determined. The winner will be successful in three one-on-one matchups, with each round lasting four minutes. Players can gain an additional 30 seconds of swing time by hammering a ball 440 feet or more on at least two occasions.
No. 4 Alex Bregman vs. No. 5 Kyle Schwarber
There's been talk that Major League Baseball, concerned that less action in the field could translate to fewer fans in the stands, might consider a rule regarding shifts. Harper had the most homers over 440 feet through two rounds with nine. Harper is the 3rd player to win the Derby at his home ballpark, joining Todd Frazier (2015-Reds) & Ryne Sandberg (1990-Cubs). The2018 MLB Home Run Derby will have a tough time living up to last year'sextravaganza whenYankees right fielderAaron Judge took home the crown. Jesus Aguilar has put everything together in second full MLB season after making his debut in 2014 with the Cleveland Indians.
That looked like too much for Harper, but he rallied with nine home runs in the final minute to tie Schwarber, then blasted a walk-off in extra time to win the trophy. Harper gave an uppercut fist pump after matching Kyle Schwarber's 18 homers in the championship round on the final swing of his allotted 4 minutes. Because he hit two homers over 440 feet, Harper got 30 seconds of extra time.
Home Run Derby 2018: Time, TV channel and how to watch online
He smacked 21 homers in an incredible semifinal effort to eliminate Rhys Hoskins, and it made it difficult for Harper in the final by putting up 18 more homers. Only Giancarlo Stanton in 2016 has recorded more homers in a single competition. WASHINGTON --David Ortiz can now laugh, sort of, at the shifting culture of baseball. For J.D. Martinez, Nolan Arenado, Aaron Judge and every other All-Star hitter, dealing with different defensive alignments is just part of the game. Bryce Harper has won the Home Run Derby in his home ballpark, providing another memory to Nationals fans in what could be his final season in Washington.
Baez struggled to get his groove going initially but he crushed a 479-foot home run that put his amazing raw power on display, then added a 443-footer just afterwards to clinch bonus time. Freeman couldn’t really get going but at least made things interesting by hitting 12 home runs in the first round. He’ll probably have a tough time staving off Bryce Harper with the home crowd behind the Nationals star. Going into the break, there have been more strikeouts than hits in the majors. Batting averages are in the mid-.240s, possibly on track to be the lowest in nearly a half-century.
Harper delivered in the first round by knocking out Freeman with 13 home runs and 27 seconds still on the clock. He hit some absolute bombs that few other lefties could replicate. Schwarber also had a special night himself with the second-most homers ever in a single Derby.
Using a late surge, Schwarber pulled one ball after another over the right field wall to squeeze out a victory -- by far the highest-scoring matchup of the night. Additionally, if you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on when signing up for your free trial. Our experts, Jon Tayler and Emma Baccellieri, delivered insight and commentary throughout the competition.
Lionel Messi celebrating with Argentina’s team chef is so wholesome This wasn’t Leo’s mom, but the story is much better. Carlos Correa’s broken deal with the Giants and new contract with the Mets, explained This was a huge error by San Francisco that never needed to happen. The 2015 NL MVP beat Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves and Max Muncy of the Dodgers before trumping the fifth-seeded Schwarber, who put the pressure on with a solid outing before Harper stepped to the plate. No real surprise here, but Bryce Harper is the oddsmakers’ favorite.
The seeding was done based on home runs hit through Tuesday, July 10. The total number of home runs hit on Tuesday was 221, surpassing for a new Home Run Derby record.
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