Cardinals All-Star Weekend Recap
Victor Roache, Lane Thomas, Tommy Edman, Ramon Santos and Yeison Medina made the flight to Midland, TX this week for the 2018 Texas League All-Star Game. Here’s what went down.
Roache 2nd in Home Run Derby, Thomas hits 4
The Texas League leader with 16 homers, Roache advanced to the Home Run Derby finals ahead of Tuesday’s All-Star Game against Midland catcher Sean Murphy.
Roache hit seven dingers in his turn (and 13 total), but Murphy took the title with eight, denying Springfield its second derby winner in three seasons after Luke Voit won it here in Springfield in 2016.
Murphy is Oakland’s №4 prospect, according to MLB.com, and hitting in his home park, so no shame in the close defeat for Roache, who’s been a great asset for Springfield all season.
Thomas hit four homers in Round 1, the same amount as Jose Canseco. Yes, that Jose Canseco…
All-Star Game tie broken by Sudden Death HR Derby
In a league where hitting has been king this season, we had a 2–2 tie in the all-star game. Because why not?
Fear not, because the powers that be had a plan: SUDDEN DEATH HOME RUN DERBY.
Yes, the traditional (nope) sudden-death baseball tiebreaker took effect in Midland on Tuesday, with our man Roache facing off against Corpus Christi’s Taylor Jones. And it was pretty fun!
Jones and Roache both started 0-for-4 before Roache cleared the fence on his fifth try. But Jones matched. Roache came up empty in his sixth and seventh swings too, and Jones delivered in №7, walking it off in a never-before-seen way.
Roache had this to say after to MiLB.com reporter Christopher Hadorn:
“I’ve honestly never seen it before. I thought it was actually awesome…I think that’s the best way to do it. It’s exciting for the fans. I know they had a good time watching that. I thought it was pretty cool to end it like that.”
And it was. It’s an all-star game, after all. They’re supposed to be fun.
Turns out, the rule is actually in the Texas League bylaws and was supposed to take effect after the 10th inning, but with both managers have used up their bullpen, they decided to expedite things.
Midland manager and the manager for the South Division seemed to enjoy it:
“It was fun, that’s what I would say to [the purists]. I think I wasn’t the only one that had fun. All the players had a good time on both sides. I think a lot of fans had a good time and hopefully everybody gets a chance to see it and maybe it revolutionizes the game a little bit.”
You can check out additional videos by clicking here.
Springfield stats:
OF Lane Thomas: 1-for-4, 2B
OF Victor Roache: 0-for-2
INF Tommy Edman: 0-for-2
RHP Ramon Santos: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Yeison Medina: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
You can check out the full box score by clicking here.
