Nationals outfielder and No. 2 seed Bryce Harper beat No. 7 seed Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves 13-12 before a near-capacity crowd in the first round of the Home Run Derby on Tuesday at Nationals Park.
The batting practice pitcher for Harper was his father, Ron, who served up the winning homer with 27 seconds left on the clock.
Harper got thunderous applause from the fans when he was introduced as the last of eight players. The left-handed slugger, wearing a red, white and blue arm sleeve, came out of the first-base dugout and shook hands with Freeman and then fireworks went off near second base.
Harper advanced to face No. 3 seed and Dodgers slugger Max Muncy, who beat No. 6 Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs 17-16.
The other first-round pairings were No. 1 seed Jesus Aguilar of the Brewers against No. 8 seed Rhys Hoskins of the Phillies, and No. 4 Alex Bregman of Houston against No. 5 seed Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs.
Hoskins beat Aguilar 17-12 while Schwarber edged Bregman 16-15, with the last blast by Bregman hitting the wall in left-center. Batters had four minutes per at-bat to hit as many homers as possible.
Harper was the only member of the field who had taken part in a previous Home Run Derby. He took part in 2013 at CitiField in New York and advanced to the final round.
Harper was using a bat emblazoned with a cherry blossom.
“Just because cherry blossoms (are) in D.C. My cleats for tomorrow are cherry blossoms, as well, and tonight, I have some American flag stuff I’m wearing,” Harper said. “And I think that’s one of the coolest things, is being able to have the spikes and the bat and the gloves.”
Harper is the only Nationals player to take part in a Home Run Derby. His 23 homers this year have gone an average of 409 feet with the longest 473 feet.
The Las Vegas native is tied for second in the National League in homers.
Harper is hitting .214 with 23 homers and 54 RBI. The outfielder entered this season with a career average of .285.
His .214 average is the lowest of any non-pitcher on the National League team by 60 points.
One of the high school home run hitters Tuesday was Bobby Witt, Jr., of Texas. His father, also Bobby Witt, is a former big league pitcher who was born in Arlington, Virginia, in 1964.
The U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard was the color guard and the national anthem was performed by Technical Sergeant Stacey Holiday, United States Air Force Band, Singing Sergeants.
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