In the final round, to crank up the unpredictability, there's only 2 minutes or 27 pitches worth of leeway. If the two players end up tied, it goes to a tiebreaker: each gets three outs, and whoever hits more home runs wins; if you hit a homer over 425 feet, you earn an extra out.
In fact, compared to facing Major League Level pitchers in real games, the Home Run Derby isn't nearly as easy as people think. Besides the hitter's own swing mechanics and raw power, having the right batting-practice pitcher is also a key factor—the BP pitcher has to keep pounding the hitter's sweet spot consistently, and still be able to adjust on the fly to the hitter's rhythm and fatigue.
Precisely because of that, to make sure he could lock down the Home Run Derby title, Lin Guanglai specifically called in his already-retired former teammate C.C. Sabathia to pitch for him today.
