CINCINNATI — Todd Frazier thrilled the home crowd with his first All-Star Home Run Derby victory, as the Cincinnati Reds third baseman defeated Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson in dramatic fashion Monday night at Great American Ball Park.
Frazier, with his brother Charlie pitching, tied Pederson with 14 homers in regulation. Then, on his first swing in the 30-second bonus round, awarded for having two homers of at least 425 feet, the 29-year old All-Star lined the winner into the left field seats.
The 15 homers were the most by any player Monday and the most ever in the final round of a Derby.
Pederson, whose pitcher was Oklahoma City Dodgers coach Johnny Washington, hit 12 homers in each of the first two rounds.
Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols was the top overall seed, but he fell one homer short to Pederson in the semis.
In the other semifinal, with the crowd often chanting his name, Frazier launched his 10th home on the final swing of regulation to edge Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson and earn his second consecutive trip to the finals.
This was the first year with revised Derby rules, including a single-elimination bracket format with timed rounds. However, with strong storms in the forecast, Major League Baseball tweaked the rules again Monday in an effort to expedite the event.
The five-minute time limit per batter per round was reduced to four minutes. A 30-second reward for home runs exceeding 475 feet was eliminated, and a 60-second bonus for hitting two homers of at least 425 feet was reduced to a 30-second bonus.
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who during Monday afternoon’s Derby press conference said he was feeling the pressure of batting first, hit eight homers in the first round, including a 452-foot bomb to right-center.
However, it wasn’t enough, as Donaldson advanced with nine, including a 465-foot blast into the upper-deck bleachers in left.
Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder, a two-time Derby champion, put on a show in the first round with eight homers exceeding 425 feet. He added one homer in the 30-second bonus round for a total of 13.
But, Frazier, who advanced to the final round in last year’s Derby at Minneapolis’ Target Field, responded.
With the Reds fans in attendance loudly chanting “Let’s go Frazier,” the third baseman tied Fielder, then on his first swing of the bonus round, launched his 14th homer to advance to face Donaldson in the semifinals.
Pederson defeated the Orioles’ Manny Machado 13 to 12 to advance to face Pujols. The Angels slugger, who is tied for the American League lead with 26 homers, hit his 10th homer just prior to the buzzer to edge Cubs rookie third baseman Kris Bryant.
NOTES: Rangers 1B Prince Fielder made his sixth Derby appearance. Angels 1B Albert Pujols participated for the fourth time. …Dodgers CF Joc Pederson and Cubs 3B Kris Bryant are the seventh and eighth rookies to compete in the Derby, the first since Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria in 2008. … Bryant and 1B Anthony Rizzo are the first pair of Cubs teammates to participate and the 15th set of teammates to compete in the same year. … Reds 3B Todd Frazier is the 18th player from a host team to compete. It was the third consecutive year there was a hometown competitor. Last year, the Twins’ Brian Dozier competed at Target Field, a year after the Mets’ David Wright did so at Citi Field.