Desmond crushes MLB-longest 486-foot homer
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DENVER -- Ian Desmond confirmed that he is hitting balls hard. And he did it just when the Rockies needed on Monday night.
Desmond crashed the longest home run in the Majors this season -- 486 feet, as projected by Statcast -- a tiebreaking solo shot in the seventh inning of the Rockies' 6-5 win over the Cubs.
The homer, off Cubs left-hander Mike Montgomery, surpassed a pair of 482-footers -- on Opening Day from the Rangers’ Nomar Mazara (also off Montgomery) and on June 2 by the D-backs’ Ketel Marte against the Mets’ Steven Matz. Desmond’s traveled 10 feet longer than the previous longest at Coors this season -- Chris Iannetta, 476 feet on June 2 off the Blue Jays’ Aaron Sanchez.
“That ball was crushed. It was a hanging breaking ball,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Desi put a good swing on it. Desi’s got strength.”
It was confirmation that Desmond’s season of hitting balls hard and lifting them -- two traits that are dramatically better than last year -- can make a difference for the Rockies. These tweets provide examples:
As is his way, Desmond -- with seven homers and two as a pinch-hitter -- threw the credit for the win to German Marquez, who overcame a four-run, three-homer third inning to go six innings and keep the score tied at 4.
“As long as it goes over the fence, I don’t care how far it goes,” Desmond said. “After Marquez pitched the way he did -- came back, showed a lot of resilience. We’ve got a lot of grinding going on.”
But Desmond certainly enjoyed the whole night, which ended with Ryan McMahon’s single driving in Daniel Murphy for the winning run in the eighth, and Wade Davis completing a solid bullpen effort. It began a seven-game homestand, after a 2-4 road trip.
“It was a fun game,” he said. “These are the games we like to play in as players -- close, intense, live crowd.”