Miguel Sano finishes second in the Home Run Derby
Miguel Sano finishes in second place in the Home Run Derby.
One event had the attention of the baseball world on Monday night and that was the Home Run Derby on the eve of the All-Star Game in Miami, Florida. It was all set up to be a final matchup of American League Rookie of the Year favorite Aaron Judge and Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton, but Miguel Sano had other plans on Monday night.
Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sano as the fifth seed was the first slugger to walk up to the plate. In the first round, Sano hit out 11 home runs. Sano’s first round opponent was fellow American League Central third baseman Mike Moustakas of the Kansas City Royals. Moustakas only hit 10 which allowed Sano to advance to the semifinals.
The first round saw a huge upset which had New York Yankee Gary Sanchez defeating the hometown and Vegas favorite Giancarlo Stanton. Sanchez was the eighth seed, so he was the first man up in the semifinal round against Sano. Sanchez hit 10 in his round, so Sano knew that he only needed 11 to advance to the finals and that is exactly what Sano did. With 43 seconds left on the clock, Sano hit his 11th bomb of the round to advance to the finals.
It was no shock who Sano would face in the finals. From the other side of the bracket, Judge reigned supreme. Judge ruled the night easily throughout with mammoth home runs. The decision that was handed down in the final round did not come down in favor of Sano.
It was fairly evident that Sano was rather tired when entering the final round. Sano went first in the round and only managed to get 10 home runs out. Judge hit 11 home runs in just 2:07 of the allotted 4:00 of the round. It was a night of big home runs for Judge and since everyone else on the internet will say it, so will I… it was Judgement Day in Miami.
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Sano had some really loud homers throughout the night, but also had the slowest pace of any contestant. If Sano would have been placed against anyone other than Moustakas in the first round, Sano would not have advanced. Stanton losing in the first round also gave Sano a much nicer path to the final round. Even with all of those conditions, it still was nice to see a Minnesota Twins player have success on the national stage. If Sano wants to, he would surely fit in the Home Run Derby for years to come.
Sano and teammates Ervin Santana and Brandon Kintzler will be back in Miami on Tuesday playing for the American League in the All-Star Game. The game can be seen on FOX.
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