{"id":4905,"date":"2026-07-14T06:33:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T06:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4905"},"modified":"2026-07-14T06:33:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T06:33:40","slug":"red-sox-willson-contreras-falls-in-home-run-derby-semifinals-cardinals-jordan-walker-walks-off-a-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4905","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox\u2019 Willson Contreras falls in Home Run Derby semifinals; Cardinals\u2019 Jordan Walker walks off a winner"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>PHILADELPHIA \u2014 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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4903\">Trump rolls out the White House welcome mat for new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>The Red Sox first baseman made them sweat before falling a home run short against hometown favorite Kyle Schwarber.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>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.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><span>Contreras emerged with a smile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019m happy with the job I did,\u201d he said. \u201cA little bit short, but the experience that I had here was the best, and I feel like a winner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>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 Jos\u00e9 David Flores at one point and was booed by the bloodthirsty crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><span>At one point, Contreras laughed and held his hand to his ear to encourage the booing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThat\u2019s what they do here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing new.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Walker won the first semifinal against the Rays\u2019 Junior Caminero, 6-5. Schwarber belted nine in the second semifinal, putting the pressure on Contreras.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With the crowd at full blast, Contreras hit eight homers and was eliminated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019ve never heard boos like that before,\u201d Flores said. \u201cBut Willson did great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>Willson Contreras is lifting the ball in the air at a percentage he hasn\u2019t before. The result has made him the Red Sox\u2019 primary source of power.<\/div>\n<p><span>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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI love Schwarber. He\u2019s one of the best teammates I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Contreras said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Contreras brothers then grabbed a photo with retired Phillies standout Bobby Abreu, a fellow Venezuelan and the 2005 Derby winner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBobby was proud of the job I did, same as my brother,\u201d said Contreras, whose 21 homers traveled 9,311 feet. \u201cI feel like a winner for sure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4901\">Follow live updates on the Trump administration<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Jac Caglianone (Royals), Bryce Harper (Phillies), Munetaka Murakami (White Sox), and Ben Rice (Yankees) were eliminated in the first round.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Rice, a native of Cohasset, struggled to get the ball in the air and hit seven homers in 20 swings off his father, Dan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI just tried to take it all in. It was so fun,\u201d Rice said. \u201cWe embraced every bit of it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That his father, who pitched at Brown, was part of the experience made it even better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhen I was invited to participate, I knew I wanted my dad to throw to me,\u201d Rice said. \u201cHe\u2019s thrown tens of thousands of pitches to me. His lifetime pitch count is well beyond its limit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI just had to figure out a way to slow down. But it was a blast,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Contreras was the first Red Sox player to compete in the Derby since Adri\u00e1n Gonz\u00e1lez and David Ortiz in 2011. Ortiz (2010) remains the only Sox player to win the competition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He was then selected for the All-Star Game as a replacement for Toronto\u2019s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who declined to play because of a sore back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That led to a spot in the Derby. Meanwhile, Contreras has been one of the league\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Contreras donated his custom-made bat featuring the \u201cBowser\u201d video game character to the Hall of Fame after the competition. He left the ballpark with no regrets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4899\">US attacks Iran and Tehran retaliates across the Middle East as both vie for control of strait<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt was all about the show,\u201d Contreras said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contreras hit 13 home runs during the first round, including one that went 490 feet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Red Sox\u2019 Willson Contreras falls in Home Run Derby semifinals; 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