Giants All-Stars Get Front-Row Seat as Swing-Off Decides First-Ever Home Run Derby Finish

The MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta ended in a way the sport had never seen: a Home Run Derby. With two outs in the ninth inning and the score tied, National League manager Dave Roberts told his players that a swing-off would settle the game if it stayed level.

Giants All-Star Robbie Ray said Roberts came down the dugout and explained that he had pre-selected three hitters for the tiebreaker. "Nobody knew," Ray said. Most people in the dugouts got little warning before the postgame spectacle began.

MLB and the players' union agreed three years ago that a tied All-Star Game would be decided by a derby, with three players per league taking three swings each. The managers chose their hitters Monday. Brent Rooker, Randy Arozarena and Jonathan Aranda represented the American League, while Kyle Stowers, Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso swung for the National League.

The tiebreaker was needed because the NL's 6-0 lead disappeared. The AL's rally began in the seventh inning, when Giants reliever Randy Rodríguez, who had a 0.86 ERA before the game, entered with two runners on base. He threw two sliders out of the strike zone to Rooker, then left a fastball over the plate that Rooker hit 426 feet for a three-run homer. Rodríguez allowed another run and was removed after recording two outs.

Rodríguez, a first-time All-Star, showered and left the clubhouse without speaking to reporters. Ray said the pitcher told them the Georgia humidity affected his slider command, and Ray said it was better for the struggles to come in an exhibition. Logan Webb, who gave up three runs in a 5-3 loss last year, offered support: "He's fine. It's the All-Star Game."

In the swing-off, Rooker homered twice in his three swings and Stowers hit one for the NL. Arozarena's second-round homer put the AL up 3-1. Schwarber then homered on all three of his swings to give the NL a 4-3 lead. Aranda hit the outfield wall on his second swing but finished without a homer, ending the contest before Alonso had to bat. The NL won the swing-off 4-3 and the game 7-6.

Schwarber was named MVP even though he went 0-for-2 with a walk before the derby. Webb said he told the Phillies slugger, "you're just a cool dude." Rooker acknowledged the NL's edge: "they had Schwarber and Pete over there, two guys built for Home Run Derby."

Webb pitched the third inning for the second straight year and retired three of the four batters he faced, throwing nine strikes on 11 pitches. He said he was nervous coming in from the bullpen, but Dodgers catcher Will Smith eased the tension by asking him before the first pitch, "What do you throw?"

The game also marked the first use of the automatic balls-and-strikes system in an All-Star Game. Four of five challenges were overturned, including one by the A's Jacob Wilson that turned a called strike into a ball. The system could be used in the 2026 regular season.

The NL had lost 10 of the previous 11 All-Star Games. Webb, who said players in a group text jokingly suggested ending all tied games with a derby, called the finish "a perfect way to end this All-Star Game."