2012 MLB Home Run Derby

SI Staff | Jul 10, 2012

2012 MLB Home Run Derby /

2012 MLB Home Run Derby

Jose Bautista (Blue Jays), Carlos Beltran (Cardinals), Robinson Cano (Yankees), Prince Fielder (Tigers), Carlos Gonzalez (Rockies), Matt Kemp (Dodgers), Andrew McCutchen (Pirates) and Mark Trumbo (Angels) took to Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium for the 2012 Home Run Derby.

Fielder, who hit 28 total home runs, beat Bautista 12-7 in the final to capture his second title, joining Ken Griffey Jr. as the only players with multiple victories.

Beltran opened up the Derby by hitting seven home runs and would advance to the second round, where he added five more.

Bautista connected on 11 first-round homers and advanced to the finale, but not before knocking out Trumbo by hitting one HR in a swing-off.

Gonzalez, who finished the first half of the season with 17 homers, failed to advance after a four-homer opening round.

McCutchen didn't make it out of the first round with four homers, but finished with a higher total than the three Pirates to appear in the Derby before him. Jason Bay ('05) and Bobby Bonilla ('90) went homerless and Barry Bonds hit two in '92.

Kemp, the NL captain, hit one home run, which came with nine outs. He was one of seven batters to hit a HR when down to his final out.

Cano, the defending champion and AL captain, was repeatedly booed and went homerless. It was the 17th time a player failed to hit a homer and the first since the Tigers' Brandon Inge in 2009.

Trumbo had the longest average of any player in the competition, coming in at 434 feet on his 13 total homers.

Fielder, who also won the Derby in St. Louis in 2009, capped his night with a 12-homer final round, tying the record set by Cano last year.

Bautista, who has hit more homers than any player over the past three seasons, added seven more in the final round but couldn't catch Fielder.

Fielder delivered the four longest drives of the night, including a pair of 476 footers and sent eight into the fountain in right field.

Published Jul 10, 2012

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