Sanchez shocks Stanton; Sano, Bellinger, Judge advance

Gary Sanchez wasn’t picked by many to upset the defending champion and #1 overall seed- but he did.

After an incredible 17-HR round, many thought that Stanton had no chance. Stanton started off slow; really, really slow, hitting just 4-HR before using his timeout about halfway through his 4-minutes. But Stanton wasn’t going down without a fight. Stanton averaged 448 feet on his home runs en route to racking up 16 home runs, falling just short of tying Sanchez. Although he didn’t come out on top, Stanton sure put on a show for his home crowd.

More drama occurred when Miguel Sano just barely squeaked by Mike Moustakas in the very first match-up of the night. Sano will know face Sanchez in the semi-final round.

Perhaps the most “edge of your seat” match-up was between Charlie Blackmon and Cody Bellinger. Blackmon didn’t have a very flashy round, but still a rather productive round, hitting 15 home runs. Bellinger started off slow, but beat the buzzer, reaching the required 440ft in his second-to-last swing to earn the bonus time. The father-son duo moves on to face Judge.

Finally, Justin Bour and Aaron Judge. Bour clearly had heard enough of the critics saying “he has no chance to beat Judge.” Bour put on a show, hitting 22 home runs, celebrating between swings, and even eating donuts during his timeout. The man was having fun. But as Aaron Judge has done all year, he ruined the dreams of his opponents with his bat. Judge defeated Blackmon with 23 home runs, and even hit the roof with one of his swings.

Semi-final match-ups:

Miguel Sano vs. Gary Sanchez

Cody Bellinger vs. Aaron Judge

Tune in to ESPN to watch the action.

-Connor Hall (@ByConnorHall)