The New York Mets' Pete Alonso won a battle of rookies to outslug Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and win the Home Run Derby at Progressive Field in Cleveland on last night.
Guerrero broke the Derby's single-round record in each of the first two rounds, but after surviving an exhausting duel with Joc Pederson in the semifinal round, he didn't have enough to beat Alonso in the final.
The 20-year-old Blue Jays rookie, trying to follow in the footsteps of his Hall of Fame father, who won the event in San Francisco in 2007, went first in the final, and after initially struggling to duplicate his earlier pace, he picked it up after calling a second timeout and finished with 22 home runs.
Alonso, unique in the competition in sending most of his hits toward center field, then followed with 23, with plenty of time to spare to end it. He became the first Met to win the event since Darryl Strawberry was a co-champion in 1986.
Difference is, I don’t think the Mets will win the Series this season like they did when “the Straw” won it.
"That was a blast. Oh my god, that was a blast," Alonso said after his win. "I'm gonna remember that for the rest of my life."
With the win came a cool $1-million bonus to supplement Alonso's base salary of $555,000. He said he would donate10% of his winnings, tto be split between two charities: the Wounded Warriors Project and the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
Wow, I would have thought his favorite charity case would be his team.
Souce: ESPN
Photo Credit: Getty Images