BACK-TO-BACK

Cespedes Defends Home Run Derby Title

Seals second consecutive win.

Yoenis Cespedes sealed a place in baseball history Monday night, earning his second consecutive Home Run Derby win. The Oakland Athletics outfielder is the first player in 15 years to win the competition back-to-back since Ken Griffey Jr. did so in 1998 and 1999. After a stalled start due to a rain delay, Cespedes totally owned the home-run competition in the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field. He hammered 28 home runs, out-hitting his final competitor, the Cincinnati Reds’ Todd Frazier, 9-1 in the final round. “I don’t need to put more of a swing or more of an effort in order to hit a home run,” Cespedes, a Cuba native, said through an interpreter. “I just have to look for a good pitch and put a good swing on it, and it usually takes care of it."