an you can teach him whats going on." Kyle Busch, a 65-time

MINNEAPOLIS -- Yoenis Cespedes knew how to pace himself in this rain-delayed home run derby, drawn out further by a new format. The Oakland Athletics outfielder simply trusted his own strength. Cespedes became the first repeat winner of the All-Star skills contest in 15 years, powering his way past Cincinnatis Todd Frazier 9-1 in the final round Monday night. Ken Griffey Jr. took the title in 1998 and 1999. With a serious, determined look on his face the whole time, Cespedes finished with 28 homers. That was four fewer than last year, when he beat Washingtons Bryce Harper 9-8 in the final round. The 28-year-old Cuban even told Athletics teammate Josh Donaldson he was doing this wrong. "I knew he wasnt going to win because his mentality was to take the ball out of the stadium, and I told him that is not the way you win this competition," Cespedes said through an interpreter. He added: "Im somebody whos very conscious of the power that I have. So I dont need to put more of a swing or more of an effort in order to hit a home run. I just have to look for a good pitch and put a good swing on it, and it usually takes care of it." Cespedes saved his best for last, a 452-foot blast to the third deck above left field that officially measured as the longest of the night. As third base coach Mike Gallego again pitched to Cespedes, who went deep 32 times in last years derby at Citi Field in New York. Gallegos arm looked nearly out of gas by the final round, which started after 10:30 p.m. local time. "Maybe next year Ill put up a better showing at the end," Frazier said. "Now that I understand, maybe Ill do a couple of more push-ups." Cespedes topped Torontos Jose Bautista, and Frazier surprisingly beat Miamis Giancarlo Stanton in the semifinals. Bautista and Stanton each earned a bye to the semifinals under the new bracketed format, which gave each player seven outs and pitted the survivors from each side in the final round. Bautista went deep 10 times in the first round, keeping the fans in the second deck above left field on their toes, and Stanton hit six. That was all for him, though. After a long wait for his next turn, Stanton put up a zero in the semifinals and let Frazier advance with only one. Oh, but Stantons six were beauties. One landed in the third deck above left field, about a half-dozen rows shy of the very top of the ballpark. Another reached the second deck above the centre field batters eye, a place never touched by a ball during an actual game here. Bautista, the AL captain, has 11 home runs in 14 regular-season games here, the most by any visiting player. Thats only one less than Twins cornerstone Joe Mauer, who has played 284 career games at Target Field. Cespedes, who beat Donaldson in a tiebreaker after each finished with three in the first round, breezed by Baltimores Adam Jones in the second round. Frazier topped NL captain Troy Tulowitzki on the other side. Colorados Justin Morneau, the fan favourite after 10-plus years and four All-Star games for the host Twins, was eliminated in the first round. Morneau returned to his roots, and so did the event itself, considering the inaugural contest was held at the Metrodome before the 1985 All-Star game. Admission then was a mere $2, slightly less than the $200-and-up price tags on the derby these days. The original form was actually a 1960s-era television show, featuring sluggers like Harmon Killebrew of the Twins. Morneau is from New Westminster, B.C. Delayed 54 minutes by light rain on an unseasonably cool night -- even for Minnesota -- with a start-time temperature of 59 degrees, the contest began with a rainbow protruding from the clouds beyond left-centre field that framed this limestone-encased ballpark that opened in 2010. Frazier went first, and while he went deep twice, he didnt quite reach the rainbow. Neither did Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, the smallest of the participants who had the backing of the crowd with chants of his last name during his two-homer round. "Even my brother he said he got chills," said Dozier, one of seven first-time participants. His brother, Clay, was his pitcher. The loudest roars were for Morneau, the only left-hander in the event his year. His third derby appearance brought the fans to their feet with AC/DCs "Thunderstruck" blaring in the background, and he hit two in the first round before Frazier beat him in the three-swing tiebreaker. The only player shut out? Dodgers sparkplug Yasiel Puig. He was the first homerless participant since Robinson Cano two years ago in Kansas City. Clearance Kobe Bryant Shoes . -- On any given day here at his companys Silicon Valley headquarters, Vivek Ranadive is ready to compete against any employee who wants to challenge him to any contest. Cheap Kobe Bryant Shoes . 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Speaking to reporters at a charity event, Johnson said: "I just kind of wonder sometimes: Is this still the place for me?" Johnsons comments came after he was asked why he recently skipped a voluntary minicamp.FORT WORTH, Texas -- When qualifying ended at Texas Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott hopped a fence and went on his way without a single fan bothering to stop him for an autograph or picture. Dale Earnhardt Jr. watched the 18-year-old go by largely ignored and figured those days were numbered. "I thought to myself, I know hes going to win one day or another, and then just start railing off run after run after run and become the next best thing," Earnhardt said hours later. "It aint going to be long until hes going to be swarmed with attention." Boy, Earnhardt had that pegged. Elliott used a strong move on the outside to pass Kevin Harvick for the lead Friday night and then sailed away for his first career Nationwide Series victory. The 18-year-old won in his sixth career start and is the second youngest winner in series history. Hes roughly four months older than Joey Logano, who was 18 years and 21 days when he won his first career Nationwide race in 2008. Elliott won in a Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, driving the No. 9 as a tribute to his father, 1988 Cup champion Bill Elliott. "I cant believe it, just to have the opportunity to race with these guys at JR Motorsports, just to have this opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any racer who wants to make it to the top," Elliott said. "It just means the word for me to be here." Elliott became the fourth driver in Nationwide history to earn his first series victory at Texas, joining Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Trevor Bayne. The victory continues the youth initiative in NASCAR as first-time winners have now won consecutive races for the first time since 2008. Two weeks ago, 21-year-old Kyle Larson scored his first career win at California. For his efforts? Elliott gets to return home and go to school on Monday as he continues to finish his senior year of high school. "I guess it will just be a normal Monday. Nobody likes Mondays," Elliott said. "Im sure it will be the same old deal, have a bunch of homework to do when I get back and get ready to go to Darlington." The win wowed Elliotts father, and back home in Dawsonville, Ga., the siren outside the local pool room wass blaring throughout the town to signify another local boys big victory.dddddddddddd "Im about speechless," Bill Elliott said in Victory Lane. "I felt like Chase could do it. Ive watched him on Late Model team too much -- I know how good the kid really is. "To come here, to never have been to some of these places, like Las Vegas, California and now here at Texas, and come out and beat the kind of guys youve beat -- Ill tell you what, youve done a heck of a job." As a sign of how much respect Elliott already has among his peers, he was met following the win on pit road by Harvick, Larson and Kyle Busch. Then six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson came to Victory Lane to congratulate him. "Its pretty awesome to see him succeed, I knew it was just a matter of time," said team co-owner Earnhardt Jr. "He has so much composure and ability and is years ahead of guys that age. And hes learning so much on the fly. Hes learning faster than you can teach him whats going on." Kyle Busch, a 65-time race winner in the Nationwide Series, finished second. He was third two weeks ago when Larson won, and hasnt seemed to mind these defeats. "These are the guys that are growing up and are young and being able to run hard and run strong and run with the best of them," said Busch. "Its neat to see them being successful and running with the best of them. I hate to lose, but its still cool to see the younger guys have the opportunities to win races and when they do, they seem to make it look good and win in style, so congrats to Chase." Elliott, who led four times for 38 laps, was strong Friday night and passed car owner Earnhardt Jr. for the lead at one point. But he was second behind Harvick on the final restart with 23 laps to go, and flirted several times with making a pass for the win before finally completing the move with a strong outside pass. "That was wild," said third-place finisher Larson. "Hed been trying to make it work and he must have had an extreme run that one time, got to Harvicks quarter panel and made him loose. From there on, I knew he was probably going to win the race unless we got a caution." ' ' '