Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton won Monday's Home Run Derby with a record 61 homers.
In the finals, Stanton hit 20 home runs to defeat Todd Frazier of the Chicago White Sox. Frazier tallied 13 homers in the final round and entered the contest as the defending champion.
The previous HR Derby record was held by Bobby Abreu at 41 in an older format of the event. The new version with a clock began with the 2015 edition. This was Stanton's second career appearance in the Home Run Derby and his first with the use of a clock.
In the first round, Stanton was matched up against Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners. Stanton hit 24 home runs in the round which was easily the highest total of any competitor. After seeing Stanton's display of power, Cano stepped to the plate and only hit seven home runs.
Pitching to Stanton was Marlins coach Pat Shine and he supplied the outfielder with a lot of hittable fastballs. Stanton was able to get into a rhythm and send out several HR in a row. One of Stanton's homers in that first round was good for 497 feet which was the longest ever recorded by MLB's Statcast.
In the second round, Stanton hit 17 home runs to advance against the #1 seed Mark Trumbo of the Baltimore Orioles. Trumbo hit 14 HR and was eliminated from contention. Stanton started slow in the semi-finals before getting on a roll. The slugger would hit another ball 497 feet in this round.
Stanton was cheered on by his Marlins teammates throughout the HR Derby. During his timeout in the first round, Jose Fernandez, A.J. Ramos and Marcell Ozuna all joined Stanton at homeplate. The quartet posed for a photograph and provided Stanton with a refreshing beverage. Fernando Rodney would join the group later in the evening as well.
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Stanton won't be in Tuesday's All-Star game, but his teammates will be. Fernandez, Ozuna, Ramos and Rodney will be in attendance at the Midsummer Classic.
