Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals has won the 2018 Home Run Derby with a grand total of 45 homers Monday night on his home field.
Harper took on Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs in the final round and defeated him 19-18 in an epic comeback that included none home runs in 50 seconds..
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Other competitors included Jesús Aguilar (Milwaukee Brewers), Rhys Hoskins (Philadelphia Phillies), Alex Bregman (Houston Astros), Max Muncy (Los Angeles Dodgers), Javier Báez (Chicago Cubs) and Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves).
The 2018 Home Run Derby was held at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., the home of the Washington Nationals. The venue will also host the 2018 MLBAll-Star Game on Tuesday night.
The first round started out with a bang, as Hoskins hit 17 out of the park and defeating Aguilar, who had only 12. Schwarber then barely edged out Bregman, the only American League hitter, by a score of 16-15.
Muncy then easily took out Báez with time to spare, walking away after hitting 17 homers. Hometown hero Harper then eliminated Freeman by a score of 13 to 12.
Schwarber appeared to be down for the count in round 2 as he struggled to keep the pace set by Hoskins, who racked up 20. However, Schwarber hit a hot streak and edged him out with time to spare.
Harper ran into a similar situation his his second round, dragging behind as Muncy led with 12. The Nationals favorite then hit seven homers in one minute, paving the way to overtake Muncy.
In the fitting fashion, the final round also ended in a nailbiter.
Schwarber racked up 18 home runs, and Harper was barely scraping by during the first half of his plate appearance. However, he hit nine home runs in 50 seconds to tie. He had earned 30 seconds of bonus time, so all it took was a few more pitches to hit one more and win.
The grand total of home runs hit during the event was 221. Schwarber racked up the highest total of runs with 55. His score of 21 in Round 2 was the highest single-round score of the night.
Harper, Báez and Aguilar will both follow up their Home Run Derby appearances with positions on the National League’s All-Star team.
Photo Credit: ESPN
