Red Sox’ Willson Contreras falls in Home Run Derby semifinals; Cardinals’ Jordan Walker walks off a winner

PHILADELPHIA — Willson Contreras had the entire crowd at Citizens Bank Park against him on Monday night in the semifinals of the Home Run Derby. The boos were deafening.

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The Red Sox first baseman made them sweat before falling a home run short against hometown favorite Kyle Schwarber.

It was Jordan Walker of the Cardinals who emerged as the champion with a walkoff shot to left field to defeat Schwarber, 12-11. He connected on his final five swings to silence the crowd.

Contreras emerged with a smile.

“I’m happy with the job I did,” he said. “A little bit short, but the experience that I had here was the best, and I feel like a winner.”

Contreras was the leadoff hitter in the first round and produced 13 home runs on 20 swings, including a 490-foot shot to left-center. He took four consecutive pitches from Red Sox bench coach José David Flores at one point and was booed by the bloodthirsty crowd.

At one point, Contreras laughed and held his hand to his ear to encourage the booing.

“That’s what they do here,” he said. “It’s nothing new.”

Walker matched Contreras with 13 homers in the first round, but Contreras was the top seed in the semifinals on the basis of having hit the longest homer.

Walker won the first semifinal against the Rays’ Junior Caminero, 6-5. Schwarber belted nine in the second semifinal, putting the pressure on Contreras.

With the crowd at full blast, Contreras hit eight homers and was eliminated.

“I’ve never heard boos like that before,” Flores said. “But Willson did great.”

Brewers catcher and fellow All-Star William Contreras was quick to give his older brother a hug at the plate. Schwarber, a former Cubs teammate, also wrapped Contreras in an embrace.

“I love Schwarber. He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Contreras said.

The Contreras brothers then grabbed a photo with retired Phillies standout Bobby Abreu, a fellow Venezuelan and the 2005 Derby winner.

“Bobby was proud of the job I did, same as my brother,” said Contreras, whose 21 homers traveled 9,311 feet. “I feel like a winner for sure.”

It was a night for righthanded hitters as Schwarber, who had a memorable few months with the Red Sox in 2021, was the only one of five lefthanded hitters to advance out of the first round. He leads the majors with 32 homers.

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Jac Caglianone (Royals), Bryce Harper (Phillies), Munetaka Murakami (White Sox), and Ben Rice (Yankees) were eliminated in the first round.

Rice, a native of Cohasset, struggled to get the ball in the air and hit seven homers in 20 swings off his father, Dan.

“I just tried to take it all in. It was so fun,” Rice said. “We embraced every bit of it.

That his father, who pitched at Brown, was part of the experience made it even better.

“When I was invited to participate, I knew I wanted my dad to throw to me,” Rice said. “He’s thrown tens of thousands of pitches to me. His lifetime pitch count is well beyond its limit.”

Rice said he was happy with his swing warming up in the batting cage but was too far out front once he got on the field.

“I just had to figure out a way to slow down. But it was a blast,” he said.

Contreras was the first Red Sox player to compete in the Derby since Adrián González and David Ortiz in 2011. Ortiz (2010) remains the only Sox player to win the competition.

It has been an eventful few weeks for Contreras. He was part of a bench-clearing brawl against the Nationals at Fenway Park on June 30 and was hit with a seven-game suspension by Major League Baseball, which was later reduced to five games on appeal.

He was then selected for the All-Star Game as a replacement for Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who declined to play because of a sore back.

That led to a spot in the Derby. Meanwhile, Contreras has been one of the league’s hottest hitters, with nine extra-base hits and 17 RBIs in his last 15 games as the Red Sox have surprisingly surged into postseason contention.

Contreras donated his custom-made bat featuring the “Bowser” video game character to the Hall of Fame after the competition. He left the ballpark with no regrets.

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“It was all about the show,” Contreras said.