At the Home Run Derby in Atlanta last night, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz was knocked out in the semifinals by eventual winner Cal Raleigh. Cruz did hit the longest home run of the event, a 513-foot home run in the first round. He is the sixth player to hit a Derby home run of 500-plus feet since Statcast began tracking in 2016. Cruz is only the second player to top 500 feet outside of Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. He averaged 447 feet in the opening round, but was knocked out 19-15 by Raleigh in the semifinals. Cruz totaled 34 home runs in the event, most ever by a Pirate.
Raleigh became the first catcher to win the event and second Seattle Mariner to win it, joining Ken Griffey, Jr. He defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in the final round.
Raleigh was almost eliminated in the first round when he tied Athletics outfielder Brent Rooker with 17 home runs, but he won the tie-breaker by fractions of an inch based on the tie-breaker of their longest home run, which was just over 470 feet. Raleigh totaled 54 home runs last night. He currently leads baseball at the All-Star Break with 38.
The post Cruz puts on a show/but Raleigh wins Home Run Derby appeared first on ButlerRadio.com – Butler, PA.
