The biggest story heading into the 2021 Home Run Derby was the fact Shohei Ohtani was taking part. He was the top seed in the event, but it was still Pete Alonso‘s crown to defend.
Alonso, the 2019 Derby winner, was hitting bombs with ease in the thin Denver air and ultimately defended his title without looking too gassed.
PETE ALONSO WINS IT!
— ESPN (@espn) July 13, 2021
Back-to-back #HRDerby champion ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/6HXaG0PSIm
Pete Alonso retains his Derby title
The young New York Mets star hit 35 homers in the first round to eliminate Salvador Perez and simply never looked back. He then took down Juan Soto in the next round before squaring off against Trey Mancini in the finals.
Mancini, whose cancer recovery story remains an inspiration, became the surprise star of the night after taking down hometown star Trevor Story in the semis. However, Alonso was just too much in the end.
Ohtani and Soto squaring off in two tiebreakers was arguably the most exciting part of the night for baseball fans. But Alonso does not care at all about that, as he takes home a crisp $1 million for his work Monday night.
The biggest dud of the night had to be Joey Gallo. He was hyped up as the potential favorite to destroy the ball in Coors Field, but ending up with the lowest total in the first round en route to his elimination.
Ohtani was the headline when the event began, and Mancini started to steal the show. But Alonso once again proved he is built for this event and it may be his to lose for the foreseeable future.