Pete Alonso was seemingly cooked in the home run derby, with Orioles slugger Trey Mancini tallying 22 home runs in his final round of swings that needed to be bested by the Mets’ power hitter. Instead of a loss, Alonso cranked out just enough home runs (including six in extra time) to become the third back-to-back Home Run Derby champion, joining Ken Griffey Jr. and Yoenis Cespedes.

In total, Alonso scorched 74 home runs, winning a bejeweled necklace and a cash prize of $1 million. “Being able to showcase that, and really putting on a fun display for fans, I just think it’s a dream come true for me because when I was young, my parents let me stay up past my bedtime to watch this. That was one of the few nights per year I actually got to stay up past my bedtime, just watch incredible feats that you don’t see in a regular baseball game,” Alonso said.

Alonso was up against a host of strong hitters, who were also helped by a well-known hitter-friendly ballpark in Coors Field.

Many had hoped Mancini would win, as his comeback story from stage 3 colon cancer (diagnosed in the spring of 2020 – the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic) was a winner with fans. With every big fly, the underdog gained continually louder cheers from those at the event. “I’m still going through a battle, and there’s so many people going through battles still, but you can go back to where you were before. I feel great about my health and where I am and what the future holds, but you definitely don’t wanna take any day for granted,” Mancini said.

Sadly, the crowd favorite Mancini fell to Alonso in the final round. Overall, there were 208 homers belted in the derby, one of which traveled 520 feet – besting Aaron Judge’s 2018 record of 513 feet. Mammoth blasts were struck by Shohei Ohtani, Matt Olson, Juan Soto, Trevor Story, Salvador Perez and Joey Gallo.

“It’s just truly a blessing,” Alonso said of his incredible victory.

The MLB All-Star starters have been revealed. This season was the first time the league implemented a two-part voting process. The first phase of the voting had three finalists for each defensive position. Nine outfielders advanced to the second phase of voting as well as a designated hitter in the American League. The second phase of voting determined the All-Star Game’s starters.

The process saw nine first-time All-Stars selected by the fans to start this year’s game. The headliners included San Diego Padres’ shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., Toronto Blue Jays’ first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani, who was voted to start as the AL’s designated hitter.

Mike Trout, who was voted as one of the starting outfielders for the AL, will be unable to play as he is recovering from a strained calf. Toronto leads all teams with three players making the starting lineup.

American League Starters:

• C- Salvador Perez 
• 1B- Vladimir Guerrero Jr 
• 2B- Marcus Semien
• 3B- Rafael Devers
• SS: Xander Bogaerts 
• OF- Mike Trout
• CF- Aaron Judge
• LF- Teoscar Hernández
• DH- Shohei Ohtani

National League Starters:

• C- Buster Posey
• 1B- Freddie Freeman
• 2B- Adam Frazier
• 3B- Nolan Arenado
• SS- Fernando Tatis Jr.
• CF- Ronald Acuña Jr.
• LF- Jesse Winker
• RF- Nick Castellanos

The National League team will be coached for the third consecutive year by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, while Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash will coach the AL.

The rest of the MLB’s All-Stars will be named on July 4. Pitchers and reserves for each team will be determined by a process that considers selections made by the Commissioner’s Office and the player ballot choices.

Man, Shin-Soo Choo cannot catch a break. Over the course of his 14-year MLB career, the Texas Rangers outfielder has seemingly been hit by as many pitches as anybody. In fact, he led the league in HBPs in 2013 with 26 when he was with the Cincinnati Reds, a full 8 more times than the AL’s hit by pitch leader, Shane Victorino.

And I’m really not sure why that’s the case. I mean, he’s not a total jerk, so it’s not like pitchers are going out of their way to hit him all the time, and he’s not the biggest threat in the world with the bat, so he doesn’t always warrant being pitched around. No, it just seems like the ball is somehow magnetically attracted to Choo, and that was shown to be the case yet again in Thursday’s game against the Kansas City Royals.

SLIDESHOW: 30 BEST SPORTS INSTAGRAMS

As Royals pitcher Danny Duffy‘s slider to Choo hit the dirt, Rangers outfielder Delino DeShields took off from first in order to snag second on the miscue. But this was no ordinary dirt ball, as it bounced from the dirt onto the heel of Royals catcher Salvador Perez‘s glove. It then went flying from Perez’s hand and right into Shin-Soo Choo’s face, because that’s just the fate the world has chosen for him. Perez then hustles to the ball to chuck it to shortstop Alcides Escobar at second, nailing DeShields out on the slide.

Does all this seem to serendipitous to you to be real? Well, check it out for yourself:

MLB.com

So not only is this guy constantly getting hit by balls coming directly from pitchers’ hands, but it turns out that he also needs to watch out for incoming balls from catchers as well. Talk about not being able to catch a break.

Coming out of the 2016 MLB All-Star Game, the story lines have been etched in stone: David Ortiz says goodbye, again. The Kansas City Royals have really good players and a Canadian tenor is treading in hot water after proclaiming his social stance during his performance of “O’ Canada.”

Lost in the celebration’s for Sally P. (Salvador Perez) and ASG MVP Eric Hosmer was how Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado cost the National League a shot at home field advantage in October.

OPINION: Nolan Arenado Just Cost NL Home-Field Advantage In World Series

With the N.L. trailing the A.L. 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Arenado stepped to the plate representing the game’s tying run.

Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy grinded out a long at-bat before serving one back through the box for a base hit.

With Murphy on first and one out, Arenado turned one over to Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, who started a 5-4-3, around-the-horn double-play.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that the play was routine, and even from this video it is difficult to surmise where Arenado mis-stepped.

But after reviewing the replay of Fox’s broadcast (like a hundred times) it is impossible to deny that Arenado was dogging it up the line.

FINAL OUT(S) OF 2016 MLB ALL-STAR GAME

Arenado appears confused at first, moving at a snail’s pace out of the box. Then about two-thirds of the way down the first baseline he stops.

John Smoltz, a Hall of Fame pitcher and color-man for Fox’s broadcast of the ASG, intimated that he believed Arenado looked like he lost track of how many outs there were and when Donaldson fired to second, Smoltz speculated that the Rockies third baseman thought that was the ballgame.

It wasn’t.

And that’s why the “Respect 90” campaign, launched by Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon, wages on.

During spring training, Maddon made a point to players that he wanted them to bust it down the first baseline as a means to putting good ju-ju into the atmosphere.

“It really is the message I want to get out there,” Maddon said. “I believe if we respect that 90 feet every day, a lot of good things are going to happen here.”

Not so coincidentally, it could be Maddon’s Cubs that suffer the consequences of Arenado’s error.

Chicago owns the best record in baseball and stand as a 4/1 favorite to reach the World Series.

But due to one Rockie’s half-hearted effort to climb up the first baseline, the Cubbies, and all other N.L. teams vying for a pennant, will play the majority of their games on the road should they reach the mountaintop.

Plenty of people think the rule is dumb.

“How could you decide something so important within an exhibition game?”

Easy. Remember 2002 in Milwaukee, when the game ended in a tie because neither team had any players left on the bench to continue, and it kinda just … ended?

No, maybe you know it better as the Torii Hunter game? When he robbed Barry Bonds of a home run early on and Bonds lifted Hunter into the air as he ran off the field.

TORII HUNTER ROBS BARRY BONDS OF HR IN 2002 ALL-STAR GAME

Well former Commissioner Bud Selig remembers, and by extension, so does Major League Baseball. And neither of them ever want to look that awkward on camera again.

So Arenado having a brainfart halfway out of the batter’s box carries a little more weight than just “the integrity of the game.”

I am certainly not alone in this critique.

Acclaimed baseball writer Peter King tweeted “Way to run, Nolan Arenado.”

Arenado is a fine player. Maybe even better than that considering the entire sports media world has been calling him “the most underrated” player in the game.

But if you’re a fan of an N.L. team, knowing the team with home-field has won six of the last seven World Series, you would almost rather who is overrated … and runs out ground balls.

Kansas City Royals Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez both homered in a three-run second inning to power the American League to a 4-2 victory over the National League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Petco Park in San Diego.

Royals Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez Lead AL To 4-2 Win Over NL In 2016 All-Star Game

The AL also sent off Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz with a win in his final All-Star Game. Hosmer added an RBI single in the third inning and became the first Royal since Bo Jackson in 1989 to receive MVP honors.

“This whole week, this whole San Diego All-Star Game has been unbelievable,” Hosmer said. “It’s a dream come true, and it kind of felt like my first big league homer right there. It was special.”

It was no surprise the Royals first baseman felt that way. Hosmer’s solo homer to left field off San Francisco Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto in the bottom of the second came in the first All-Star at-bat of his life. Two batters later, Perez became the first catcher in Royals history to score a homer in an All-Star Game, blasting a high two-run bomb to left field.

Indians right-hander Corey Kluber pitched a perfect second to earn the win for the AL, which has now won four consecutive All-Star Games. Kluber also became the first Cleveland pitcher to win an All-Star Game since now-Mets ace Bartolo Colon in 1998.

Chicago Cub Kris Bryant gave the NL a lead in the first, firing a solo shot off the scoreboard beyond the left-field first deck. Miami’s Marcell Ozuna added an RBI single to center field off Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez in the fourth to plate Buster Posey and cut the deficit to two runs. However, the AL bullpen didn’t falter after that.

In the top of the eighth, Astros right-hander Will Harris punched out Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz with the bases loaded to keep the AL ahead by two. Orioles lefty Zach Britton then worked a smooth ninth to record the save.

“It’s baseball; we face All-Stars all the time,” Harris said. “It’s no different. You just want to do your job, and now the game counts for so much. With home-field advantage, there’s a little bit extra on the line which makes it that much more fun.”

Britton got Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado to ground into a game-ending double play to seal the win for the AL.

Ortiz, a 40-year-old 10-time All-Star, smacked a ball to first base in the top of the first that was deftly picked up by the Cubs’s Anthony Rizzo. This was the only official at-bat of the night for the Dominican Red Sox slugger. He walked in the third and was removed for a pinch-runner to a loud ovation from both fans and players. Ortiz, who is batting .332 and leads the Majors in on-base percentage and slugging, will retire after the season.

“It’s something that I’ll never forget, when you see all your boys,” Ortiz said of being greeted by his teammates as he left the field. “Pretty much everybody in this dugout has been related to me one way or another.”

Angels center fielder Mike Trout lined a single to center off Cueto in the first to raise his All-Star Game hitting streak to five– and he’s recorded a hit in his first at-bat on all five occasions.

“I’m enjoying it more; I know what I’m going to do,” Trout said of his fifth All-Star experience. “The guys in there do a good job keeping me in the right line, where I’m going at the right time, and I just try to enjoy every minute of it. This time it went so fast.”

Fan-favorite Wil Myers of the Padres roped a two-out double in the fifth, making him the first player to record an extra-base hit in a hometown All-Star Game since Mariners outfielder Mike Cameron did so in 2001. One inning earlier, lefty Drew Pomeranz threw a scoreless fourth and left to a standing ovation.

“The fans were just going crazy since we’re here in our home city,” Pomeranz said. “Especially when they announced both of us. It was pretty awesome. It’s pretty special to have your first one anywhere, but even more so here.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXLF4fAzl-c

SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 12: Eric Hosmer #35 of the Kansas City Royals and the American League rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the National League in the 2nd inning of the 87th Annual MLB All-Star Game at PETCO Park on July 12, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer, Lorenzo Cain had four hits and two RBIs to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 7-4 road victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain Lead Royals To 7-4 Victory Over Twins

The bases were loaded with zero outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and right-hander Wade Davis was staked to a three-run lead for the Royals.

Davis earned his 12th save in 13 attempts in the ninth. “I was just having a little trouble there early, timing-wise,” Davis said afterward. “It felt really good, but I had a tough time finding a comfortable rhythm, I guess, to get it in the strike zone, but I found it eventually.”

This was the seventh win for the Royals (24-21) in the last nine games. They also increased their two-game total in Minnesota this week to 30 hits and improved to 5-0 against the Twins (11-34) this season. The Twins lost to the American League Central division rival Royals for the eighth consecutive time at home.

Perez, a three-time All-Star catcher, followed a leadoff walk by Kendrys Morales in the second inning with a long drive off his 2013 teammate Ervin Santana that landed in the grass behind the wall in center field to give Kansas City a 2-0 lead.

”They make it tough,” said Twins manager Paul Molitor. They have a lot of long at-bats. They foul pitches. They put balls in play, and they find holes.”

Edinson Volquez (5-4) earned his fifth victory on Tuesday, thus matching the cumulative total for Minnesota starters this season. The 32-year-old Dominican right-hander allowed six hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings, after giving up four or more runs in four of his last six turns. He also struck out six batters and ended up with two unearned runs in the fourth from an error on right fielder Paulo Orlando.

”We’re putting together a lot of different things we didn’t do before we started winning,” Volquez said.

Santana (1-3) only lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing nine hits, six runs and two walks in the second instance this month in which he failed to finish the fourth inning.

Perez has a 10-game hitting streak, batting .415 (17 for 41) during that stretch. Cain matched his career high for hits and increased his all-time batting average at Target Field in Minneapolis to .333 (33 for 99).

“We know what kind of talent we have in here,” Cain said moments after celebrating in a darkened clubhouse with a green strobe light dancing off the ceiling. “I feel like it was just a matter of time for us to just click together, swing the bats together and get hot at the same time. I feel like we’ve done that the last week or so. We just got to keep going.”

The Royals are now third in the AL Central. Right-hander Dillon Gee (1-0, 2.90 ERA) will make his third start of the season on Wednesday against the Twins at Target Field. Right-hander Tyler Duffey (1-3, 3.30 ERA) will start for the Twins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqP2G8qT9OU

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – MAY 24: Salvador Perez #13 of the Kansas City Royals hits a two-run home run against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning of the game on May 24, 2016 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)