The Polar Bear wins the Derby but the night belonged to Vladdy

The night belonged to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The trophy and $1 million belongs to Pete Alonso.
Alonso bested Vlad Jr. in the final of Monday’s All-Star Game Home Run Derby, hitting 23 home runs to take the title. The 23 bombs was a record for the final round (Guerrero hit 22, which was also briefly a record before Alonso broke it).

The night will be remembered most for Guerrero’s 91(!) total home runs, which shattered Giancarlo Stanton’s previous record of 61. Forty of those 91 came in the second round, as Vlad needed three tiebreakers to final advance past Joc Pederson.
Guerrero had the longest home run of the night, walloping one that measured at 488 feet. He hit 17 dingers that went at least 450 feet, with the rest of the field combining for 27.
Ultimately, though, while Vlad Jr. stole the show, Alonso will go down as the winner after an incredible performance in his own right. Alonso has promised to donate 10 percent of his winnings to two different charities.

Ryu, Verlander Tapped to Start

All-Star Game skippers Dave Roberts and Alex Cora on Monday afternoon announced their starting pitchers for Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic. It will be the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu going for the National League and the Astros’ Justin Verlander taking the ball for the American League.
Ryu became the obvious choice for Roberts once Max Scherzer bowed out due to a back injury, and he was probably going to be the guy regardless of Mad Max’s condition. The left-hander has been fantastic in the first half with a microscopic 1.73 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 99/10 K/BB ratio over 109 innings. Ryu has allowed more than two earned runs in a start just once, and that came at Coors Field. He boasts a 1.83 ERA in 32 starts since the beginning of last season.
Verlander will be making his second career All-Star Game start and will be hoping things go better for him this time around after he allowed five runs in his inning of work back in 2012. The 36-year-old this season has continued to defy the convention aging curve, putting up a 2.98 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 153/27 K/BB ratio over 126 2/3 frames.

The starting lineups for the NL and AL squads will look like this:

NATIONAL LEAGUE
1. Christian Yelich, LF, Brewers
2. Javier Báez, SS, Cubs
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Braves
4. Cody Bellinger, RF, Dodgers
5. Nolan Arenado, 3B, Rockies
6. Josh Bell, DH, Pirates
7. Willson Contreras, C, Cubs
8. Ketel Marte, 2B, Diamondbacks
9. Ronald Acuna, CF, Braves


AMERICAN LEAGUE
1. George Springer, RF, Astros
2. DJ LeMahieu, 2B, Yankees
3. Mike Trout, CF, Angels
4. Carlos Santana, 1B, Indians
5. J.D. Martinez, DH, Red Sox
6. Alex Bregman, 3B, Astros
7. Gary Sanchez, C, Yankees
8. Michael Brantley, LF, Astros
9. Jorge Polanco, SS, Twins

Quick Hits: Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Monday that the Astros, Twins, Braves, and Brewers are among the teams showing interest in Madison Bumgarner. … Rosenthal also said Monday that he expects the Indians to be "aggressive listeners" on Trevor Bauer leading up to the trade deadline, with the Yankees potentially being one interested party. … Additionally, Rosenthal also reported that the Cubs have shown interest in David Peralta and the Red Sox are "pushing to add a starting pitcher" and "would prefer to act sooner rather than later”. … Scott Mitchell of The Sports Network has reported that the Yankees and Twins have inquired with the Blue Jays about a trade involving both Marcus Stroman and Ken Giles. La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has reported that the Twins have also reached out to the Padres about Kirby Yates. … Jonathan Lucroy has been diagnosed with a concussion and a fractured nose as a result of his home plate collision with Jake Marisnick on Sunday. … Jose Alvarado (oblique) is expected to be sidelined for 6-8 weeks … The White Sox claimed A.J. Reed off waivers from the Astros.