2025 MLB All-Star Game HR Derby Tiebreaker Thrills Fans as Schwarber Leads NL to Win

Welcome to the history books, 2025 MLB All-Star Game.

Nine innings wasn't enough for this year's Midsummer Classic at the Atlanta Braves' Truist Park on Tuesday, and the National League prevailed in a first-ever Home Run Derby tiebreaker that took the place of traditional extra innings.

Three players from each team competed in a de-facto swing off with three swings per player. The side with the most home runs was declared the winner, and Kyle Stowers and Kyle Schwarber combined to launch four for the NL to the three combined from Brent Rooker, Randy Arozarena and Jonathan Aranda for the American League.

Pete Alonso didn't even have to bat because Schwarber drilled home runs on each of his three swings to put the NL up for good.

It was shocking that such an ending was even necessary, as the NL jumped out to a 6-0 lead through the first six innings and seemed to be on cruise control.

But the Senior Circuit clinched the win in thrilling fashion and has now won two of the last three All-Star Games after the AL won nine in a row from 2013 through 2022. Schwarber went 0-for-2 with a walk during the actual game but still took home the MVP award because of his clutch performance in the Home Run Derby.

Social media had plenty of reaction to the historic ending:

Before Schwarber's heroics, it was a handful of big swings that set the tone for the NL. Ketel Marte put the Senior Circuit ahead with a two-run double in the first inning before Alonso and Corbin Carroll provided breathing room with home runs in the sixth inning.

Alonso's long ball was a three-run shot and appeared to break the game open given how well Paul Skenes and the rest of the NL pitchers performed in the first six innings. However, the Junior Circuit fought back with four runs in the seventh, three of which came on Brent Rooker's homer.

The home team appeared to stop the momentum when Jacob Misiorowski, who was a controversial selection because he has made just five career starts, preserved the lead with a scoreless eighth, but the AL refused to go away.

Bobby Witt Jr.'s double off Robert Suarez cut the deficit to one in the ninth before Steven Kwan tied the game with a two-out infield single off Edwin Díaz. Kwan was down to his last strike but continued to battle before he put the ball in play and forced the swing off.

Fans also didn't have to wait long for fireworks even before the late dramatics.

It is nearly impossible to script a more electric starting pitcher matchup than one between Pittsburgh Pirates fireballer Skenes and reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers, and the former struck out the first two batters he faced before retiring Aaron Judge.

Skenes didn't hide what he was doing as he threw nothing but heat, but the top of the American League lineup couldn't do anything with it.

Things didn't go nearly as well for Skubal, as the NL pushed across two runs in the bottom of the frame on Marte's double after Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. singled.

Other notable moments in the early going included Manny Machado striking out when a pitch was overturned by an Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) challenge and Clayton Kershaw, who was included in the game as a "Legend Pick" of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, receiving an ovation from the fans and his teammates after retiring the only two batters he faced.

Pitchers set the tone at the start, but the bats eventually showed up as Alonso and Carroll launched their homers in the sixth before Rooker countered in the seventh. The AL's comeback hopes were alive and well by the time Witt drove in a run to make it 6-4 in the seventh.

Even the visitors' perseverance in the ninth wasn't enough to stop Schwarber with the outcome hanging in the balance in the Home Run Derby, though, and the Philadelphia Phillies slugger launched his side to victory.