Defending Home Run Derby champion Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins has been bounced in the first round of this year’s event, eliminated by Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees.
The eighth-seeded Sanchez won 17-16.
Sanchez went first, put up the big score and then Stanton had to play catch-up.
Stanton started slowly, took his time-out with 2:31 left in his 4-minute window, then composed himself with a few sips of a drink and got back into a groove. He connected on his last two swings to get to 15, then got set for the 30-second bonus round — needing two to tie, three to advance.