Miguel Sano muscled up to blast a monster homer to the Fountain Bar at Kauffman Stadium
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Thanks to the Twins' day-night doubleheader against the Royals on Saturday, Miguel Sanó had already hit one long homer at Kauffman Stadium on the day. Although the Royals won the first game, 11-6, Sano launched a dinger 461 feet off rookie Luke Farrell:
That would have been enough for most players, but there was a reason Sano got invited to the 2017 Home Run Derby.
During the Twins' 10-5 triumph in the nightcap, it looked like Sano hit one even further than his afternoon blast, reaching elusive territory at Kauffman Stadium -- the Fountain Bar, high up over the distant fountains in left-center field:
Royals starter Jason Hammel had fanned Sano earlier in the game, so in the fifth inning, he had a strategy. "The first at-bat, he struck me out and threw a couple breaking balls and struck out me out on a fastball," he said to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger. "So I tried to look for a pitch at my knee and hit it hard."
Boy, did he. But how far did it go? "I don't know, but far," said Sano about reaching the Fountain Bar. "I saw the ball and I couldn't believe that I could hit the ball that way."
Unfortunately, Statcast did not get a measurement on this colossal shot. However, we do know that the homer below by Ryon Healy that landed to the side of the Fountain Bar last September traveled 480 feet:
Based on the estimate of Healy's homer, Sano's clout certainly topped at least 485 feet.
Regardless of the precise distance, it was something to behold. That's Home Run Derby power, plain and simple.