The 95th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will go down in history not only for its outcome, but for the way it was decided. Atlanta’s Truist Park was the scene of the first “Derby Decisivo,” an unprecedented format implemented in 2024 by MLB to resolve tied games instead of playing extra innings.
When the National League led comfortably 6-0 going into the seventh inning, no one imagined what was to come. The American League reacted strongly: it scored four runs in the seventh inning and two more in the ninth to tie the game 6-6. Cuban Aroldis Chapman pitched the bottom of the ninth without allowing a run, which activated the new modality to define the winner: a Team Home Run Derby.
A Derby at full power
Each league chose three batters to decide the All-Star Game.
For the Americans: Brent Rooker, Randy Arozarena and Jonathan Aranda; for the Nationals: Kyle Stowers, Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber.
In three consecutive rounds, Rooker opened with two homers, to which Stowers responded with one.
In the second, Arozarena added one more for the American team, but Schwarber smashed three in response and put the Nationals on top.
In the third round, Aranda failed to hit a home run, making Alonso’s participation unnecessary.
With an overall score of 4 home runs to 3 in the Derby, the official victory was assigned to the National League with a score of 7-6, adding the tiebreaker round.
Latino protagonism: pride and power
Latinos made their mark at the All-Star Game:
Ketel Marte (Dominican Republic) drove in the first two runs of the game with a double in the first inning that towed in Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. who received a standing ovation from the Atlanta crowd.
Alejandro Kirk (Mexico) batted 2-1 with one run scored.
He shared the field with Randy Arozarena, Jonathan Aranda and Andrés Muñoz, marking a historic moment when four Mexicans were active simultaneously in the All-Star Game, something rare.
Gleyber Torres (Venezuela) and Javier Baez (Puerto Rico), friends since their days with the Cubs, returned to the All-Star Game after six years.
Both played as starters for the American.
“Enjoying this moment with my family and in front of a fan base like this was like experiencing it for the first time,” said Baez.
Four days of baseball festivities
Each league selected three hitters to decide the All-Star Game
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The Decisive Derby closed a weekend full of activities:
On Saturday, the Futures Game was played with promising young players, where Latin talents stood out.
Monday was the Home Run Festival, won by Cal Raleigh.
On Tuesday, the All-Star Game culminated with emotion and symbolism, marking a new chapter in MLB history.
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