MINNEAPOLIS -- Yoenis Cespedes joined Ken Griffey Jr. as the only back-to-back Home Run Derby champions by defeating Todd Frazier in the final round at Target Field.It was no surprise that Cespedes reached the final after winning the contest last season. But if you had Frazier edging Giancarlo Stanton in the National League semifinals -- with just one homer, no less -- you enjoy a particular form of prescience.
That's how it played out Monday night at Target Field, where Frazier and Cespedes were set to face each other in the finals of the All-Star Week event, which went to a new bracket format this year.The Derby started about an hour late due to rain, but Jose Bautista and Stanton, in particular, made it worth the wait in the first round. Bautista hit 10 homers and Stanton hit six to earn a second-round bye. One of Stanton's blasts traveled about two-thirds of the way up the third deck, a projected distance of 510 feet.
In both cases, these were instances of players living up to expectations. Bautista, with 11 homers in just 59 career at-bats at Target Field, has always made a mockery of this building's reputation as a pitcher-friendly park, and Stanton, the 6-foot-6, 240-pound beast of a man, was easily the Derby's biggest draw.Bautista led the first round in homers, but Stanton led it in mouths agape. His third homer was the first of the night to reach the third deck, his fourth was a 430-foot shot to the second deck in dead center (even Stanton was smiling at that one), his fifth was a line-drive bullet to dead center, and his final-out FlexBall homer not only came amazingly close to leaving the building but also earned $10,000 for charity. That one looked like it could have cleared the rainbow that had briefly formed above Target Field after the rain deluge.When it was over, Stanton stood in the box, faced his fellow All-Stars and held his arms out to his side as if to say, "How was that?"It was good.But the first round was not a preview of things to come.That's because Frazier snuck his way into the semis and somehow edged Stanton. One homer was enough, because Stanton looked gassed in making seven quick outs.Frazier had hit just two homers in the first round, looking a bit uneasy while trying to get in sync with his brother, Charlie, who served as his pitcher. But he tied with Justin Morneau for third place in the NL, then beat Morneau in a swing-off to move on. And in the second round, he caught fire with six homers, including one to the second deck to the opposite field in right-center. So what Frazier might have lacked in total tally, he more than made up for in timeliness.Cespedes had also only reached the second round in a swing-off with teammate Josh Donaldson. But he began to take over in the AL in the second round, when he hit nine homers, including multiple majestic blows to the second deck and a capping shot to dead center.And in the semifinals, Cespedes continued his surge. He hit seven home runs. Bautista was the last to bat in the round, and he gave an impressive effort but finished short with four homers.Adam Jones and Troy Tulowitzki were bounced in the second round, while Brian Dozier and Yasiel Puig joined Morneau and Donaldson in getting knocked out of the first.Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com
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