Oakland A’s Cespedes Wins Home Run Derby Again
15 Jul, 2014
Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes became the first repeat winner of the All-Star home run derby in 15 years, powering his way past Cincinnati’s Todd Frazier by a whopping 9-1 in the final round Monday night.
Ken Griffey Jr. took the title in 1998 and 1999.
With a serious, determined look on his face the whole time, Cespedes finished with 28 homers. That was four fewer than last year, when he beat Washington’s Bryce Harper 9-8 in the final round.
Cespedes saved his best for last, a 452-foot blast to the third deck above left field that officially measured as the longest of the night.
Athletics third base coach Mike Gallego again pitched to Cespedes, who went deep 32 times in last year’s derby at Citi Field in New York. Gallego’s arm looked nearly out of gas by the final round, which started after 10:30 p.m. local time.
Cespedes topped Toronto’s Jose Bautista, and Frazier surprisingly beat Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton in the semifinals.
Bautista and Stanton each earned a bye to the semifinals under the new bracketed format, which gave each player seven outs and pitted the survivors from each side in the final round. Bautista went deep 10 times in the first round, keeping the fans in the second deck above left field on their toes, and Stanton hit six.
AP
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