Pete Alonso may have won the Home Run Derby, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won the night.
Published 11:59 PM EDT Jul 8, 2019
Guerrero -- at age 20, the youngest player to participate in the Derby -- set a record for homers in one round with 29 in his opening session. The Toronto Blue Jays third baseman then matched it with 29 more in his initial semifinal round. That, despite the disadvantage right-handed hitters face at Progressive Field, with its 19-foot-high left field wall.Improbably, lefty-swinging Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson matched Guerrero blast-for-blast in a thrilling semifinal round with 29 dingers of his own, necessitating a one-minute swing-off for the right to advance to the finals.
Like heavyweights battling toe-to-toe in the final rounds, the two sluggers each connected once in a three-swing tiebreaker, sending them to another extra inning. Guerrero set the bar high with two more to give him a total of 40. Pederson could muster only one as Guerrero advanced to face Alonso in a matchup of two rookies who were part of last year's All-Star Futures Game.
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