Home Run Swing-Off In MLB Games? What Boone, Roberts Said After All-Star Finish
In case you missed it, the Midsummer Classic in Atlanta ended with a home run swing-off after the game was tied 6-6 after nine innings – the first-ever time it was ever used in a game.
In what amounted to a mini version of the Home Run Derby, Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber's MVP performance sealed the win for the National League All-Stars over the American League – officially a 7-6 win for the NL.
The swing-off was the big talking point of the game, with players and managers alike both confused and amazed at the previously little-known format – which had been approved in the 2022 collective bargaining agreement.
First off, here's how it worked: Three players from each team were picked;
Three swings for each player, who could face however many pitches thrown by the pitching coach;
The team with the most home runs wins!
It almost felt like a penalty shootout you'd see at the end of a soccer game. And it was a unique spin to the finale of an All-Star Game, which has gone to extra innings eight times in its history – most recently in 2018.
"It was awesome," Schwarber said afterward. "The guys were really into it. They were yelling, screaming, cheering me on every swing. And then when that last one goes over, they were all pumped. It was a lot of fun."
After Tuesday's game, it raised the inevitable question: Would you be in favor of seeing this in actual regular season games?
"It will be interesting to see where that goes. There's probably a world where you could see that in the future, where maybe it's in some regular season mix," Yankees skipper Aaron Boone said, who managed the AL squad. "I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if people start talking about it like that."
But Boone stopped short of wanting it implemented in real games anytime soon.
"Obviously, I don't think that should happen, necessarily, or would at any time in the near future. But I got to say, you know, it was pretty exciting."
It was a sentiment shared by Boone's NL counterpart. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he still likes the current extra-innings "ghost runner" rule of a player on second base from the 10th inning onward.
"I think that it was great for this exhibition, but in the regular season, I don't mind how it plays out in the regular season with the man on second base," Roberts said.
The ghost runner rule was used in the COVID-19 affected season in 2020 before being fully implemented in the approval of the 2022 CBA. As such, the earliest we'd see any swing-off rule get the green light would be for the 2026 CBA talks – which may have bigger issues to tackle.
Regardless, at least it's here to stay for the All-Star Game – and might have fans actually rooting for a tie ballgame after nine frames.
"I got a group text with a bunch of other baseball players around the league, and they seemed to really like it, too," Giants pitcher Logan Webb said. "I think it was an awesome way to end it."
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USA Today
5 minutes ago
- USA Today
Milwaukee Brewers are an 'island of misfit toys' – and MLB's hottest team
They're that Toyota Prius in a parking lot full of Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. They're that ground chuck burger on a menu with tomahawk steaks and lobster tails. They are the unwanted, the discarded, and the castoffs of Major League Baseball. They are the Milwaukee Brewers. 'The island," Brewers reliever Grant Anderson tells USA TODAY Sports, 'of misfit toys.'' It was the moniker Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook placed on his staff, with Brewers manager Pat Murphy chiming in, saying his entire team, is 'Just a bunch of average Joes." MLB POWER RANKINGS: Brewers sweep Dodgers again, leaving big-bucks LA in dust Well, these anonymous castoffs just may be the best darn team in all of baseball, tied with the Chicago Cubs for baseball's best record, 60-41, while winning 35 of their last 48 games, including 11 of their last 12. 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There's uh, well, that kid who throws 101mph on every pitch, what's his name, Miz something? Anyone else? 'We don't get recognized anywhere," Brewers left fielder Isaac Collins says. 'I mean, even in town, I think I've only been recognized once or twice. No one knows who we are." Well, considering they're on pace to reach the postseason for the seventh time in the last eight years, with four NL Central Division titles, it's about time everyone finds out. 'We're going to start wearing 'Power of Friendship' T-shirts," All-Star closer Trevor Megill says, 'then people can start recognizing who we are. I mean, people were freaking out last year when we won 93 games. Maybe they didn't think we could do it again." The Brewers are reminding folks that even if you don't wear Armani suits, Gucci shoes and David Yurman gold chains, all you need is a comfortable pair of spikes, a broken-in glove, the right bat, and the unselfish desire to play the game the right way to make the rich and famous wallowing in jealousy. The Brewers have no power, and not a lot of speed, but, oh, do they play the game hard, they play it right, and they will beat your brains in playing small ball. 'We're the little engine that could," Murphy says. 'We have no pop. We have no slug. We don't have a lot of things. But we have a lot of heart 'These guys are hungry. 'And it's hard to be hungry when you're full." The Brewers make up for their power deficit by putting the ball in play. They rarely strike out. They bunt. They hit-and-run. They play defense. They attack. Simply, they're relentless. 'It's nice for America to see that our brand of baseball works," Collins says. 'You don't have to live and die by the long ball. You just have to do all of the little things right. 'That's all we're doing, just being ourselves." And, poking a little of fun at themselves in the process. When the Brewers signed a backup player for $1.35 million during the winter, Murphy sent Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations a note: "Hey Andy, sorry, but when you were signing Shohei Ohtani, [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto and Blake Snell, we stole this guy from you. Sorry about that." When players are traded to Milwaukee, GM Matt Arnold cracks, 'You don't get traded to the big leagues. You get traded to Milwaukee JUCO." And when you enter the Brewers clubhouse, you feel as if you're walking into a movie set or a comedy club, with Murphy being called 'Patches O'Houlihan," from the 2004 movie 'Dodgeball." 'That's what we do here,'' Murphy says. 'We dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge. We need to get those T-shirts made." This also is the place where you can be released, designated for assignment, traded or dumped, and come resurrect your career. The Brewers will take your sick, your hungry, your weary, and even your ex-Colorado Rockies. The Brewers acquired reliever Nick Mears from the Rockies for two minor leaguers last July, and picked up Collins from the Rockies in 2022 in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft. Mears has since become one of their most reliable relievers, yielding a .200 batting average this season with a 0.86 WHIP – sixth among all relievers. Collins won the starting left field job and is hitting .269 with a .777 OPS. 'It seems like half the guys here have been DFA'd or come over in a trade," Mears says, 'but once you get over here, you buy into the culture. There's a hunger to win, especially coming from a bad team. You want to prove to yourself that you're more than just a DFA guy. Just imagine how first baseman Andrew Vaughn was feeling. The former first-round pick couldn't even stick with the Chicago Sox. He was demoted and sent back to the minors for the first time since 2019. He was still languishing in the minors when Brewers veteran Aaron Civale asked to be traded, upset he was being taken out of the rotation for rookie sensation Jacob Misiorowski. In less than 24 hours, Arnold was sending Civale to the White Sox for Vaughn. Vaughn returned to the minors but when first baseman Rhys Hoskins sprained a thumb ligament two weeks ago, he was summoned. Vaughn hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat with the Brewers, and never stopped, hitting .333 with two doubles, two homers, 12 RBI and a 1.071 OPS during an 11-game winning streak. 'It's pretty special being here," Vaughn says. 'You can see why they have so much success." There is starter Quinn Priester, given up by the Pittsburgh Pirates after being a first-round draft pick in 2019, and then the Boston Red Sox, who traded him April 7 to the Brewers. The Red Sox didn't think he could help them, but the Brewers believed in his pedigree, and with a little tinkering of his arsenal, could be a force. You think the Red Sox could use him now? Priester, who added a cut-fastball to his arsenal, is 8-2 with a 3.33 ERA. He pitched six shutout innings, yielding just three hits and striking out 10 without a walk in his last outing against the Dodgers. 'I remember as soon as I got traded here," Priester says, 'I had a bunch of guys text me telling me how good this team is developing pitchers in the system, and they do such a great job. You look at how many of us came from different organizations and got better here. 'We're not here to prove people wrong, but to just enjoy the camaraderie, with everyone buying in to do whatever it takes to win." There is Caleb Durbin, a Division III player at Washington University in St. Louis, who was traded twice in two years without spending a day in the big leagues. 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We believe in ourselves, but we just have to do it differently, try to be creative, and have guys that nobody heard of step up." It was really no different when the Brewers opened the season losing their first four games of the season by a combined score of 47-15, the biggest run differential in MLB history. They still were four games under .500 (21-25) six weeks into the season. Then, a funny thing happened. The pitching staff, which opened the season with 11 of their top 16 pitchers injured, began to get healthy. Those cast-offs started gelling. And then, on May 25, they rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the eighth inning against the Pirates to win, 6-5. They have since been baseball's hottest team. 'We don't have guys making $20 million a year," says Anderson, who's on his third team after being designated for assignment last December by the Rangers, 'like we did when I was in Texas. We don't have four MVPs in the lineup like the Dodgers. We don't have a lot of things. 'But we believe in each other. We know how to win games. And we have a lot of confidence." It's proven to be quite the lethal combination So, you may want to hurry up and get to know these Brewers' names. Come October, it could be quite handy. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
Newsweek
6 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Sonny Gray Trade? Why Latest Mets, Cardinals Trade Buzz Makes No Sense
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New York Times
6 minutes ago
- New York Times
Cristopher Sánchez's ascension toward acehood has changed the calculus for Phillies
PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies, for almost two decades, had bare concrete walls that lined the hallway from the clubhouse to the dugout at Citizens Bank Park. The area underwent a makeover a few years ago with a floor-to-ceiling collage of various players that has changed over time. This season, a few steps from the dugout, there is Cristopher Sánchez. Advertisement It is a serious shot from a photoshoot, not a game. Sánchez is glaring at the camera like he's about to throw a changeup to a helpless hitter who knows the changeup is coming. He is oozing confidence. This is his final form, an astonishing transformation into one of the sport's best left-handed starters. Sánchez likes this photo. It is meaningful to him. Before every home start he's made this season, including Tuesday night's dominant complete-game victory, he puts his hand on the picture. In Sánchez's mind, there is a certain energy that comes from this image. 'It motivates me,' Sánchez said through a team interpreter. 'I try to make myself look like that picture and remember where I've come from. How far I've come.' Thirteen months to the day Sánchez signed a contract extension that might be one of the club's most consequential transactions in recent years, he tossed his third complete game in a 4-1 Phillies win. He struck out 12 Red Sox hitters. He induced 13 groundouts. He did not walk a batter. He lowered his ERA to 2.40 in 124 innings. Sanchie Day — Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 22, 2025 His evolution is now well-documented, but with every start, Sánchez is proving something greater. He is no longer some novelty. He is edging closer and closer to acehood, a status bestowed upon a certain few in Major League Baseball. His contract, one of the most team-friendly deals in the sport, will guarantee that Sánchez pitches his prime years at a discounted rate. The lefty was once on the fringes of a big-league roster; he secured generational wealth with the four-year extension. The financial security, Sánchez has said, freed his mind. He could relax. There was a runner on second base with two outs in the eighth inning Tuesday night. Rob Refsnyder, Boston's leadoff hitter and a lefty masher, came to bat. He had cracked a solo homer in the fourth inning, then struck out in the sixth. He took three balls from Sánchez to start the at-bat in the eighth. Advertisement Sánchez took a deep breath and fired a fastball for a called strike. He caught the edge of the zone with a changeup for strike two. Refsnyder fouled off another changeup. Then, Sánchez countered with yet another changeup, almost right down the middle. Refsnyder whiffed. Sánchez showed as much emotion on the mound as ever, followed by a standing ovation from the announced crowd of 43,409 packed into the ballpark. 'I mean, he got me,' Sánchez said. 'But I got him twice. So that's why I showed so much emotion.' He wasn't done. Manager Rob Thomson checked on Sánchez, who had thrown 96 pitches in eight innings. He was good to go. The fans greeted him with another ovation. 'Goosebumps,' Sánchez said. He needed 10 pitches for the final three outs. J.T. Realmuto flipped the ball to Sánchez, who snared it with his bare left hand. That ball sat atop his locker afterward. 'Electric,' Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. 'Electric. He's one of the best pitchers in the big leagues. His fastball is unique. His changeup is too. Today, he was on point. … That was one of the best I've seen in a while.' What. A. Night. — Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 23, 2025 The Phillies, like every team, have flaws. But no other team has Zack Wheeler and Sánchez atop its rotation. It is what separates the Phillies. It is why the front office feels compelled to trade top prospects by the end of this month. Sánchez, 28, has changed the calculus in every way. Aaron Nola, the man who was supposed to slot second in the rotation, has not pitched since May 14. The Phillies have missed him, but not as much as they would have in previous years. Sánchez is firmly the Game 2 starter in a hypothetical postseason series. His emergence will allow the Phillies to move one or two other starters into the bullpen come October. Advertisement And, from a roster-building standpoint, the Phillies can begin to expect top-of-the-rotation performance in future years at a fraction of the usual cost. Sánchez's four-year contract covers his pre-free agent years at $22.5 million. The best value, as far as the Phillies are concerned, are two team options at $14 million for 2029 and $15 million for 2030. Sánchez would pitch those seasons at ages 32 and 33, respectively. The Phillies were not looking to extend Sánchez in June 2024; the pitcher's agent, Gene Mato, approached the club with the idea. Sánchez wanted security. He received a $2 million signing bonus. The franchise could benefit from it in a massive way. 'Obviously, it's not the best contract in the world; it's not the worst one, either,' Sánchez told The Athletic last month. 'But I'm much calmer. I'm focusing more on baseball right now, so it's allowed me to stay focused on my career and give my best here.' There is something to the calmness Sánchez exudes on the mound. 'Nasty,' Phillies infielder Edmundo Sosa said. 'He's worked so hard. That's why.' Hitters have a difficult time discerning Sánchez's changeup, one of the best pitches in baseball, from his fastball. He has an unusual arm slot. He keeps consistent mechanics when throwing both pitches; his added strength over the last two years has allowed him to repeat his delivery more often. He is throwing harder; he topped at 97 mph in Tuesday's start. His slider has improved some in 2025. But there is no fooling anyone: Sánchez will lean on his changeup. He threw it 45 times against Boston. It was the best it felt all year. 'The changeup was nasty,' Boston catcher Carlos Narváez said. 'I faced him last year and I kind of knew my approach. But the changeup was really good today. The changeup down, then a little bit away at the end of the game. He was mixing all of his pitches.' Advertisement This influenced Thomson's decision to push Sánchez. He'll have an extra day of rest before his next start. But the Phillies like Sánchez facing hitters for a third or fourth time in a game, which is supposed to be a challenge for a starter who primarily throws only two pitches. 'The changeup gets better,' Thomson said. How? 'Arm speed,' the manager said. 'Just more reps he gets with it. He gets better command of it. There's a little bit more movement. He's one of the rare guys that third time through (the order) he's even better.' Last season, the Phillies noticed an oddity. Sánchez was far better pitching at home than he was on the road. It's one reason he started Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Mets. They wondered about the mound here, maybe accentuating his unique release point. Maybe it was the batter's eye. Maybe it was Sánchez's routine, going straight from the bullpen mound to the top of the first inning. Whatever it was, Sánchez adjusted. He is better on the road (2.17 ERA in 11 starts) than at home (2.65 ERA in nine starts) this season. It is just another way Sánchez has evolved. 'The work that we've been doing from the offseason is working,' Sánchez said. 'It's something that I take pride in.' He's starting to dream bigger than that man in the photo.
