Nearly every pitch Mets bench coach Dave Jauss threw was in Pete Alonso’s wheelhouse, and the duo made light work of the Home Run Derby for Alonso’s second straight win.
His 35 home runs were the highest total of the first round, helping him beat Royals’ catcher Perez, whose second-best 26 dingers fell victim to the luck of the draw. Alonso was dancing and singing along to the stadium’s booming tunes during his rounds and letting out some primal polar bear roars after the more diabolical destructions.
The players were not constricted by Coors Field’s humidor, an apparatus that was not used tonight but typically houses the baseballs before each game in Colorado to suppress the high-altitude effects and try to keep them in the yard.