Judge rules Derby in dominant fashion
MIAMI — The dream matchup wasn’t to be. The Home Run Derby still was a resounding hit on a night full of long balls and close battles by some of baseball’s best sluggers.
The drama started early last night at Marlins Park when defending champion Giancarlo Stanton took too long to find his groove and exited in the first round, falling one homer short of Gary Sanchez in the first round.
That opened the door for young Yankees slugger Aaron Judge to become the new king of the long ball, thrilling a crowd of 37,027.
Judge, who like Stanton is from Southern California and even bigger, sent balls to parts of the park the Marlins’ four-time AllStar hasn’t reached. Judge drove back-to-back shots of 504 and 513 feet in the semifinals.
He barely broke a sweat in completing the ascension.
“I had a lot of fun. I hope the fans enjoyed the show, it was an awesome atmosphere.” Judge said. “Everyone put on a show here.”
He put away Miguel Sano in the final 11-10, calling it a halt with two of his allotted four minutes remaining.
The 6-foot-8 Judge had to fend off a high-level challenge by the other Marlins player in the field, Justin Bour, in a first-round thriller to avoid the same fate as Stanton.
That would be the toughest test of the night for the young slugger, who is having a dream season, leading the majors with 30 home runs at the break.
Judge dispatched Dodgers Rookie of the Year candidate Cody Bellinger in the semifinals, stopping with a minute remaining after pulling ahead 14-13.
He cheered on Sano in the final. But after the Minnesota Twins third baseman managed only 10 homers to open the round, all that remained was a coronation for Judge.