Cespedes beats Frazier to defend Home Run Derby crown

Yoenis Cespedes became the second player in Home Run Derby history to win the event two years in a row after hitting nine homers in the final round to defeat Todd Frazier.

Cespedes joined Ken Griffey Jr. as the only competitors to win back-to-back events.

The Oakland Athletics outfielder hit a total of 30 home runs, including a first-round tiebreak win over teammate Josh Donaldson. He capped his performance with an average projected home run distance of 465.4 feet in the final round, including a tape-measure blast of 509 feet.

Cespedes took advantage of a new format that saw first-round leaders Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Bautista rest for well over an hour after securing byes into the semis. 

While most players were spending their time in the cage, Cespedes prepared for his semifinal against Bautista by, well, chilling.

[Courtesy: ESPN]

The All-Star slugger also used the downtime to fire off warning shots to his fellow competitors.

Frazier's road to the final was much more underwhelming, as he edged Stanton in the National League semifinal by a count of 1-0.

First round was the best round

The highlights came early but not often, perhaps hindered by long layoffs and poor weather. Rain delayed the start of the event by almost an hour, but fans were treated to an exciting opening round.

Bautista put up video games numbers to begin the night, hitting a derby-best 10 first-round homers.

Stanton followed the Toronto Blue Jays slugger by putting an exclamation point on his first round with the farthest home run of the night, estimated at a projected distance of 510 feet. The Miami Marlins right fielder was hitting the ball so hard his manager Mike Redmond was scared to throw to him.

No homers, no flips

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig disappointed in his first Derby, failing to hit a home run in his only round.

Quote of the night

Hometown hero Justin Morneau was eliminated after hitting two home runs in the first round followed by a zero in the tiebreaker. Morneau's performance prompted former major-league pitcher Brian Bannister to deliver the line of the night: