Alonso outslugs Vlad

July 9, 2019 at 12:00a.m.

Guerrero Jr. hits 91 dingers but comes up short in Home Run Derby at Cleveland’s Progressive Field

By Dan Hiner

Cleveland

Every Vlad Guerrero Jr. swing appeared to be followed by a sense of disbelief. Oohs and aahs were sprinkled into every home-run cheer.

Guerrero hit 91 home runs. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to win Monday night’s MLB Home Run Derby at Progressive Field.

Mets rookie Pete Alonso hit his 23rd home run of the final round with 18 seconds left to bring home the trophy. Alonso won $1 million. Guerrero hit 22 homers in the final round.

Alonso became the third rookie to win the Home Run Derby. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge won it in 2017 while Los Angeles Angel Wally Joyner tied Darryl Strawberry in 1986.

Todd Frazier can rest easy knowing his record wasn’t broken. Frazier hit 92 home runs in three derbys, the most since MLB structured the event in 1985.

The Blue Jays rookie’s toughest test came in the semifinal.

Guerrero and Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson had to go to a second tie-breaker. The pair each hit eight home runs in the 60-second swing-off. The tie was decided with a three-swing tie-breaker.

Both batters hit one in their first set, raising their Derby total to 38. Guerrero followed with two home runs. Pederson was on pace to catch him yet again, but pulled two on the ground to end his round.

Guerrero’s 69 home runs through two rounds were the most by a participant in a single derby.

With Carlos Santana’s elimination in the opening round, no Indians player has won the Home Run Derby. Jim Thome and Albert Belle both finished as runners-up in the 1990s. Thome lost to Ken Griffey Jr. in 1998 and Belle fell to Frank Thomas in 1995.

Santana got off to a slow start.

Three of his first four swings hit off the right-field wall. He needed a minute to get his first home run, but finished with 13.

Pederson hit 21 home runs in the first round. His longest was a 452-foot bomb, which landed short of the second deck in right field.

Braves slugger Ronald Acuna Jr. tallied 25, besting Pirates first baseman Josh Bell.

Bell dug himself into a hole early with some short line drives. He finished with 18.

Before the event, Alonso told MLB Network he was “going to be putting balls into orbit” with a bat he named Halley’s Comet, named after his fiancee.

Indians fans in attendance thought the switch hitter, who batted lefty, had a chance.

Alonso had trouble elevating the ball, but hit his 14th of the first round with one second left on the clock.

Alonso beat the horn for the second time on the night in the semifinal. He hit his 20th of the round with no time on the clock, edging out Acuna’s 19.

Tribe Title Winner

Bill Brunnet Jr., an Ohio resident and Indians fan, won the second annual Home Run Derby VR championship.

A field of 32 competitors played as 2019 participants on a Sony PlayStation VR.

Brunnet won a championship trophy, four tickets to today’s All-Star Game, a custom jersey, a commemorative bat and other prizes.