Jasson Dominguez, Matt Wallner Power American League To 6-4 Win In Futures Game

Image credit: Jasson Dominguez (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES—After a mistake-riddled start, the American League turned on the power to turn the Futures Game in its favor.

Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez and Twins outfielder Matt Wallner each hit a two-run home run during a big third inning, powering the American League to a 6-4 win over the National League in the Futures Game at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.

Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers added a solo home run in the fourth to add to the power show and give the AL its first Futures Game win since the format switched from USA vs. World in 2019.

“We finally started getting some pitches to hit and took advantage of them,” said Wallner, the Twins No. 6 prospect. “It was fun to watch.”

Langeliers was named Futures Game MVP after going 1-for-2 with a home run and throwing a runner out at third base attempting to steal.

“There’s a bunch of talented guys out there on the field,” Langeliers said. “It was really easy behind the plate with how good the pitchers were. Everybody out there is a super talented baseball player. At the end of the day, it was just fun to get out there.”

The game went back and forth early before the AL took control.

Dodgers righthander Bobby Miller got the start for the National League and came out firing in front of the home crowd, sitting 97-100 mph on his fastball and striking out the side in the first inning.

The inning wasn’t flawless, though. Miller walked leadoff hitter Gunnar Henderson and threw a wild pitch in the dirt that catcher Diego Cartaya lost track of, allowing Henderson to motor all the way to third. After Dominguez struck out swinging on a slider, Dustin Harris reached down and poked a changeup low and away into left field for a bloop single to score Henderson and give the AL a 1-0 lead. Miller recovered to strike out the next two hitters, Anthony Volpe and Wallner, and limit the damage.

That’s where the score remained until the bottom of the second, when the NL took the lead on an error by Dominguez. With two out and two on, Cartaya launched a long fly ball to the wall in center that Dominguez tracked down, but the ball popped out of his glove. Instead of ending the inning, both runners came around to score on the error and give the NL a 2-1 lead. Two batters later, Padres outfielder Robert Hassell III singled up the middle to bring home another run and extend the NL’s lead to 3-1.

Dominguez wasted no time making up for the error. With one out and one on in the top of the third, Dominguez got ahead in the count 3-1 against Giants lefthander Kyle Harrison and launched a 94-mph sinker over the plate deep over the left-center field wall to tie the score. The home run traveled 415 feet and had an exit velocity of 107 mph, per Statcast.

“That felt really good,” said Dominguez, the Yankees No. 7 prospect. “The only thing I was thinking was that (dropped) fly ball, no one is remembering that now.”

The AL piled on Harrison some more in the inning to take the lead. After Harris walked and Volpe struck out, Wallner turned on a first-pitch fastball and drilled a missile that sailed over the right-field wall for another two-run homer to make it 5-3 AL. The ball left Wallner’s bat at 116 mph, according Statcast, the hardest hit ball of the game.

“I was just trying to get a fastball down,” Wallner said. “It’s not the most comfortable at-bat. I knew if got one down I had a chance … I got one down enough and I was just able to get to it.”

 

Langeliers added his home run in the fourth to make it 6-3, sending a solo shot to left-center off his former Braves minor league teammate Jared Shuster.

The AL pitching staff took it from there. Rangers righthander Jack Leiter, Blue Jays lefthander Ricky Tiedemann and Mariners Emerson Hancock each retired the side in order in their lone inning—including Hancock striking out the side—to get it to the seventh. Tigers righthander Wilmer Flores got the first two outs of the seventh but allowed a sacrifice fly to Brewers outfielder Joey Wiemer that cut the lead to 6-4. Yankees lefthander Ken Waldichuk came on in relief to face Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio and got the 18-year-old wunderkind to fly out to right and end the game.

“You always want to win,” said Hancock, the Mariners’ No. 4 prospect. “Everybody here wanted to compete. We played a really good game, there’s some really, really good players out there and it was fun to win.”

Miller threw four of the five fastest pitches in the game and was the only pitcher to clear 100 mph. His 100.3 mph fastball he threw to Volpe in the first inning was the fastest pitch of the game and another he threw at 100.1 mph to Harris was the second-fastest.

Pirates righthander Mike Burrows pitched the fifth inning for the NL and got five swings and misses, the most of any pitcher in the game. Miller and AL starter Taj Bradley were tied for second-most with four whiffs.

Harris went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored for the AL and Astros catcher Yainer Diaz went 2 for 4, including a 108-mph single that was the second-hardest hit ball of the game behind Wallner’s home run. Rockies outfielder Zac Veen went 2 for 3 for the NL and was its only player to record multiple hits.

Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn starred defensively with a 100.5 mph throw from shortstop in the second inning that broke the record for hardest throw ever recorded by an infielder, breaking the record of 97.9 mph held by Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz. White Sox outfielder Oscar Colas raced in to make a diving catch in center field to end the fifth inning and Athletics outfielder Denzel Clarke made a running catch and crashed into the wall in right field in the seventh to cap the defensive highlights.