St. Louis Cardinals Carlos Beltran swings hitting a home run during the opening round of the Home Run Derby at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City on July 9, 2012. Beltran hit seven homers in that round. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Cardinals outfielder and Kauffman Stadium favorite Carlos Beltran opened up the 2012 Home Run Derby with seven. Toronto’s Jose Bautista had five with nine outs and launched six in a row, with none of them less than 420 feet to take the early lead with 11. Mark Trumbo hit a “Trumbomb” sending one 475 feet. He tied Beltran with seven. Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies and Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates finished with four. Prince Fielder hit three of his five into the fountains to move into the top four. NL captain Matt Kemp hit just one homer, and with the crowd chanting for “Billy Butler,” in response to last year’s champ Robinson Cano not selecting the hometown hero for the Derby, Cano was shutout. After the first round, here are the totals.
Bautista—11
Beltran—7
Trumbo—7
Fielder—5