Toronto鈥檚 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. joined Vladimir Sr. to become the first father-son duo to win the All-Star Home Run Derby, beating Tampa Bay鈥檚 Randy Arozarena 25-23 in the final round on Monday night in Seattle.
Guerrero defeated Julio Rodr铆guez 21-20 in the semifinals after the Mariners star hit a record 41 in the first round in front of his hometown fans.
Batting against Blue Jays manager John Schneider, Guerrero was the last semifinalist to swing and the first finalist, setting a final round record for homers to top Pete Alonso鈥檚 23 two years ago. Vladimir Guerrero Sr. won the 2007 derby in San Francisco while with the Los Angeles Angels, beating the Blue Jays鈥� Alex Rios 3-2 in the final.
The Kid and The Kid 馃悙 #HRDerby pic.twitter.com/O0pO6ktuuS
鈥� Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 11, 2023
Arozarena, batting against Tampa Bay field coordinator Tomas Francisco, started his final 30-second segment with 21 homers and quickly got to 23 before lining and popping up on his final swings.
Arozarena overcame Luis Robert of the Chicago White Sox 35-22 in the semifinals. Robert hit the longest drive of the night, a 484-foot shot to left in the second round.
Trying to become the youngest Derby winner at age 22, Rodr铆guez knocked out two-time champion Alonso, who hit 21. Rodr铆guez beat Corey Seager 32-24 in the first round last year at Dodger Stadium, then knocked out Alonso 31-23 before losing to Juan Soto 19-18 in the final.
Arozarena beat Texas鈥� Adolis Garc铆a 24-17 in the opening pairing before a crowd of 46,952 at T-Mobile Park. Garc铆a is the godfather to Arozarena鈥檚 daughter, and the two jumped into each other鈥檚 arms during warmups.
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Robert knocked out Baltimore鈥檚 Adley Rutschman 28-27 in the opening round. Rutschman hit 21 left-handed, and the switch hitter then turned around to the right side and hit six more right-handed during a 30-second bonus round. From Portland, Oregon, Rutschman grew up attending Mariners games.
Guerrero, back for the first time in four years, defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers鈥� Mookie Betts 26-11 in the first round. Four years ago at Cleveland, Guerrero hit 29 in the first round and 40 in the second, then lost to Alonso 23-22 in the final.
Alonso was trying for his third title in four years. Seattle鈥檚 Ken Griffey Jr. is the only three-time winner, taking the title in 1994, 鈥�98 and 鈥�99.
Only three players have won the title at home: the Chicago Cubs鈥� Ryne Sandberg in 1990, Cincinnati鈥檚 Todd Frazier in 2015 and Washington鈥檚 Bryce Harper in 2018.
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
