Cespedes topped Torontos Jose Bautista

MINNEAPOLIS -- Yoenis Cespedes knew how to pace himself in this rain-delayed home run derby, drawn out further by a new format. The Oakland Athletics outfielder simply trusted his own strength. Cespedes became the first repeat winner of the All-Star skills contest in 15 years, powering his way past Cincinnatis Todd Frazier 9-1 in the final round Monday night. Ken Griffey Jr. took the title in 1998 and 1999. With a serious, determined look on his face the whole time, Cespedes finished with 28 homers. That was four fewer than last year, when he beat Washingtons Bryce Harper 9-8 in the final round. The 28-year-old Cuban even told Athletics teammate Josh Donaldson he was doing this wrong. "I knew he wasnt going to win because his mentality was to take the ball out of the stadium, and I told him that is not the way you win this competition," Cespedes said through an interpreter. He added: "Im somebody whos very conscious of the power that I have. So I dont need to put more of a swing or more of an effort in order to hit a home run. I just have to look for a good pitch and put a good swing on it, and it usually takes care of it." Cespedes saved his best for last, a 452-foot blast to the third deck above left field that officially measured as the longest of the night. As third base coach Mike Gallego again pitched to Cespedes, who went deep 32 times in last years derby at Citi Field in New York. Gallegos arm looked nearly out of gas by the final round, which started after 10:30 p.m. local time. "Maybe next year Ill put up a better showing at the end," Frazier said. "Now that I understand, maybe Ill do a couple of more push-ups." Cespedes topped Torontos Jose Bautista, and Frazier surprisingly beat Miamis Giancarlo Stanton in the semifinals. Bautista and Stanton each earned a bye to the semifinals under the new bracketed format, which gave each player seven outs and pitted the survivors from each side in the final round. Bautista went deep 10 times in the first round, keeping the fans in the second deck above left field on their toes, and Stanton hit six. That was all for him, though. After a long wait for his next turn, Stanton put up a zero in the semifinals and let Frazier advance with only one. Oh, but Stantons six were beauties. One landed in the third deck above left field, about a half-dozen rows shy of the very top of the ballpark. Another reached the second deck above the centre field batters eye, a place never touched by a ball during an actual game here. Bautista, the AL captain, has 11 home runs in 14 regular-season games here, the most by any visiting player. Thats only one less than Twins cornerstone Joe Mauer, who has played 284 career games at Target Field. Cespedes, who beat Donaldson in a tiebreaker after each finished with three in the first round, breezed by Baltimores Adam Jones in the second round. Frazier topped NL captain Troy Tulowitzki on the other side. Colorados Justin Morneau, the fan favourite after 10-plus years and four All-Star games for the host Twins, was eliminated in the first round. Morneau returned to his roots, and so did the event itself, considering the inaugural contest was held at the Metrodome before the 1985 All-Star game. Admission then was a mere $2, slightly less than the $200-and-up price tags on the derby these days. The original form was actually a 1960s-era television show, featuring sluggers like Harmon Killebrew of the Twins. Morneau is from New Westminster, B.C. Delayed 54 minutes by light rain on an unseasonably cool night -- even for Minnesota -- with a start-time temperature of 59 degrees, the contest began with a rainbow protruding from the clouds beyond left-centre field that framed this limestone-encased ballpark that opened in 2010. Frazier went first, and while he went deep twice, he didnt quite reach the rainbow. Neither did Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, the smallest of the participants who had the backing of the crowd with chants of his last name during his two-homer round. "Even my brother he said he got chills," said Dozier, one of seven first-time participants. His brother, Clay, was his pitcher. The loudest roars were for Morneau, the only left-hander in the event his year. His third derby appearance brought the fans to their feet with AC/DCs "Thunderstruck" blaring in the background, and he hit two in the first round before Frazier beat him in the three-swing tiebreaker. The only player shut out? Dodgers sparkplug Yasiel Puig. He was the first homerless participant since Robinson Cano two years ago in Kansas City. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Authentic . Neither striker Demba Ba nor Fernando Torres came close to scoring as Chelsea was left unsuccessfully appealing for penalties in this drab penultimate game of the season. "Our strikers are good strikers, no doubt about that, but players with some specific qualities," Mourinho said. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Black Friday .Brazil midfielder Ricardo Goulart scored the winner in the 50th minute to give the defending champion a four-point advantage in the standings over second-place Sao Paulo, which beat rival Palmeiras 2-0. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.com/custom-nike-colorado-rockies-jerseys/ .C. - Nick Merkley and Damon Severson each had a goal and two assists as the Kelowna Rockets downed the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 on Saturday in Western Hockey League playoff action. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys China .J. -- Having Ondrej Pavelec earn his 100th NHL win and seeing Mark Scheifele and Evander Kane break goal droughts were nice highlights for the Winnipeg Jets. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Wholesale . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria.GLENDALE, Ariz. - It was clear to Mike Ribeiro in his return to Arizona what separates the slumping Coyotes from his new team, the Nashville Predators.Goaltending has to be your best player, night in and night out, Ribeiro said. And we have a chance to have one that can help us every night.Pekka Rinne stopped 31 shots for his NHL-best 19th win, and Ribeiro had an assist as the Predators used five goal scorers to beat slumping Arizona 5-1 Thursday night in the Coyotes eighth straight home loss.James Neal had a goal and an assist, and Mike Fisher, Ryan Ellis, Calle Jarnkrok and Olli Jokinen also scored in the Predators second consecutive win.Mike Smith allowed five goals on 38 shots as Arizona extended its longest home skid since the team moved from Winnipeg in 1996.Antoine Vermettes goal early in the first period was the only blemish for Rinne, who improved to 19-5-1.Smith, meanwhile, dropped to 5-14-2 as the Coyotes nightmare season showed no sign of turning around. Arizona has been outscored 19-5 in its four-game skid. The Coyotes have dropped nine of 11 overall.Frustrated, disappointed, Arizona coach Dave Tippett said when asked about his teams mindset. I think theres a lot of guys in there that care. They want to do better and were not finding the results we want.So the frustration continues to build. But until we turn that frustration into mental resolve and get the job done, more frustration will pile up.Fans directed their frustration at Ribeiro — even if he claimed there werent enough of them to hear it.Ribeiros team-best 17th assist came when Ellis redirected Neals shot into an open net with 1:30 left in the first period to make it 3-1.Once again, not a lot of fans in the building, Ribeiro said. They didnt have a chance to boo me. Or they might have, but I didnt hear them.Ribeiro was booed every time he touched the puck early. The Coyotes bouught out the final three years of his contract last summer, with general manager Don Maloney citing behavioural issues along with Ribeiros dismal 47-point season as the reason.ddddddddddddRibeiro is more than halfway to that total with 25 points for Nashville.They said it was a mistake to get me, Ribeiro said. I think the mistake was to let me go.The Coyotes had several scoring chances thwarted by Rinne in the second period. After a sloppy start to the third, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette called his timeout.His team quickly responded.Jarnkrok knocked in a rebound at 2:43, then Jokinen scored his second goal of the season when the puck went off his skate and through Smith less than 3 minutes later to make it 5-1.The Coyotes got wing David Moss back after a 22-game absence due to injury, and he started on a line with Martin Erat and Martin Hanzal. And with Shea Weber serving a holding penalty, Arizona got an early goal. Vermettes one-timer from the slot on a feed from Mikkel Boedker made it 1-0 at 4:11.It was the first power-play goal allowed by Nashville in five games. But the Arizona lead didnt last long.With Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the box for holding and Michael Stone without his broken stick, Fisher got his first of the season on a redirect at 6:57.The Predators controlled the game from there.Its not easy for them right now, Ribeiro said of the Coyotes. I wish (Tippett) the best. I hope he stays behind the bench.Its hard to have an organization if its not steady on top — completely on top from ownership to GM.NOTES: Nashvilles David Poile earned his 1,170th win as a GM, tying former Boston boss Harry Sinden for second in NHL history. ... Predators C Derek Roy (upper body) returned after a five-game absence. ... Predators C Paul Gaustad (upper body) didnt dress. ... The crowd of 10,194 was the smallest of the season for Arizona. ' ' '