ATLANTA — Cal Raleigh grew to become the primary catcher to win the Residence Run Derby on Monday evening, besting Junior Caminero 18-15 within the ultimate spherical at Truist Park.
Raleigh additionally grew to become the primary Seattle Mariners participant to hoist the trophy since 1999, when Ken Griffey Jr. received his third title. Tampa Bay’s Caminero, who was vying to turn out to be the youngest winner in Derby historical past at 22, fell simply brief because the Rays’ first contestant since Randy Arozerena misplaced to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. within the 2023 ultimate.
Raleigh, the main league’s chief in homers with 38, totaled 54 house runs on Monday. All was practically misplaced within the opening spherical, because the Seattle star superior to the semifinals on a tiebreaker, as his longest house run eclipsed Brent Rooker’s by the narrowest of margins — 470.61 ft to 470.53.
Within the semifinals, Byron Buxton — dealing with Caminero — adopted his 21-homer first spherical with a seven spot within the second spherical. Caminero blew previous that complete, needing simply 12 swings to succeed in eight homers and advance to the ultimate spherical.
On the opposite facet of the four-man bracket, Raleigh outslugged Oneil Cruz 19-13, regardless of Cruz mashing a 498-foot shot.
Cruz and Caminero hit 21 house runs within the opening spherical, with Cruz receiving the highest seed primarily based on the longest house run tiebreaker.
Washington Nationals outfielder James Wooden started the evening with 16 house runs, together with a 486-foot shot, earlier than Rooker adopted with 17.
Tampa Bay star Caminero, utilizing a bat together with his face on it, then hit 11 of the primary 14 pitches he noticed over the fence, earlier than totaling 21 in a powerful spherical.
Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Cruz hit considered one of his 21 first-round homers 513 ft to right-center discipline, marking the farthest recorded house run in Truist Park historical past.
Buxton of the Minnesota Twins had 20 homers and New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit simply three out.
Raleigh switched from the left-handed batter’s field to the fitting with simply over a minute left on his option to 17.
To cap the primary spherical, Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson recorded solely 15 in his house park, leaving Cruz, Caminero, Buxton and Raleigh within the semifinals.
–Jack Batten, Area Stage Media
