At the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park, I stood on a packed Lansdowne Street behind the Green Monster during the Home Run Derby and watched ball after ball fly not just over the wall, but over the street and onto the roof of the parking garage. Mark McGwire may have blasted one or two that bounced off the garage and onto the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Luckily, no 50-car pileups ensued.

It was great theater. The sluggers were hitting balls in places never before seen at Fenway Park. It was assumed something was up with the balls -- they simply weren't supposed to travel that far -- but it wasn't a big deal. It was a Home Run Derby and if you want to juice things up a little bit to make the event more exciting, that seemed OK. Plus, this was McGwire in the year after his epic record chase with Sammy Sosa, when he was still king of the sport. It was all good fun.

On Monday, the Arizona Diamondbacks were in Philadelphia. It was a good night to maybe hit a couple of home runs: the wind was blowing out to center field at 7 mph, Citizens Bank is a good home run park and Jerad Eickhoff, who had allowed 11 home runs in his past five starts, was pitching for the Phillies.

Well, the Diamondbacks would pound eight home runs in their 13-8 victory that featured a mind-numbing 13 home runs altogether -- a major league record, surpassing the combined mark of 12 set by White Sox and Tigers on May 28, 1995, and the White Sox and Tigers again on July 2, 2002.

Imagine hitting five home runs and losing the game. The Phillies have company: It's the sixth time that's happened this season.

The Diamondbacks hit five off Eickhoff in his three-plus innings:

First inning: Jarrod Dyson, 360 feet to right field (101 mph exit velocity)

First inning: Ketel Marte, 406 feet to right field (102.7 mph)

First inning: David Peralta, 407 feet to center field (100.3 mph)

Those were the first three batters of the game. Most of the fans were still in line getting their cheesesteaks and it was already 3-0.

Fourth inning: Eduardo Escobar, 371 feet to right field (100.6 mph)

Fourth inning: Alex Avila, 366 feet to right field (99.5 mph)

3 batters.
3 homers.
That's just efficient. #RattleOn pic.twitter.com/yYhQLEH5zo

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 10, 2019

FYI: Eduardo Escobar is really good at baseball. That's all.@Dbacks up 5-3 in the top of the 4th! pic.twitter.com/6DjpeK9uQZ

— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) June 11, 2019

Eickhoff allowed five fly balls and all five left the park. All were certainly struck well, but none were exactly crushed or featured an unusual exit velocity, as a typical game features a dozen or so balls in play at 100 mph or higher. Dyson, with 17 career home runs in more than 2,000 at-bats, hit a high-and-away fastball out of the park, not exactly the location you would expect Dyson to connect for a home run. (He'd only hit one other home run in his career off a pitch in a similar location.)

But when baseball in 2019 has turned into a season-long Home Run Derby, these things happen. They're happening all the time. And it's becoming a bit absurd.

The Diamondbacks became the sixth team to hit seven or more home runs in a game this season - well, five teams for a total of six times, as the Twins have twice hit eight in a game (so did the Dodgers). And only two of those six games came against the Orioles.

Get this, in the entire decade of the 1990s, when half the league was supposedly using steroids, there were 12 seven-homer games. In the 1980s, there were six, so we've already matched that total on June 10.

A couple of recent home runs caught my attention. Here's one from Ji-Man Choi from a few days ago, in which he kind of just flicks his bat at the ball ... and the ball goes 394 feet into the Fenway bullpen:

Ji-Man Choi (6 HR) finds a pitch he likes! ??#RaysUp 1#RedSox 0

Catch @RaysBaseball on FOX Sports Sun ? l FOX Sports Go.? pic.twitter.com/PWmgGQQCIS

— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) June 7, 2019

And here are the Nationals hitting four home runs on Sunday. The third one was from Adam Eaton. He's not a power hitter, with 47 career home runs and a season high of 14, but he kind of one-handed the ball 402 feet to center field:

Howie Kendrick homered.
SEE. YOU. LATER.
Trea Turner homered.
SEE. YOU. LATER.
Adam Eaton homered.
SEE. YOU. LATER.
Anthony Rendon homered.
SEE. YOU. LATER.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK! pic.twitter.com/LYiJL0phqp

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 9, 2019

Those are just a couple of examples and far from the best ones. But let's be honest here: The ball is a joke. I'm not telling you anything you haven't seen with your own eyes. Combine the lively ball with some of these cozy dimensions -- right field at Yankee Stadium is a joke, Cincinnati feels like a high school field -- and the home run barrage is never-ending.

Entering Monday, we were on pace for 6,514 home runs -- almost 1,000 more than were hit in 2018 and 400 more than the 2017 record of 6,105. Yes, the launch angle revolution works when you can hit what might have been a warning track fly ball a few years ago and now it lands three rows deep. Take Marte, one of Arizona's home run hitters on Monday. He came up as a slap-hitting shortstop who hit three home runs his first two seasons. Now he's a beefed-up slugger with 16 home runs already, including one last week that went 482 feet, one of the season's longest.

The ball rewards players like Marte or Tommy La Stella who can add strength and rework their swings to hit more fly balls (as long as it doesn't come at the expense of too many strikeouts or pop-ups that can wipe out the gains in power). But it also means the game has become extremely one-dimensional. Home run or die. Lots of home runs. Maybe too many home runs. Indeed, as I was writing this, Ian Desmond hit a 486-foot home run, the longest of the season:

?LONGEST HOME RUN OF THE SEASON ?

Desi sends one 4️⃣8️⃣6️⃣ft!! pic.twitter.com/ZLrZOFtuwy

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 11, 2019

You could call it McGwire-esque.

Braves hit five home runs, get into dust-up: The Braves beat the Pirates 13-7 as Ozzie Albies homered twice, Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a grand slam and Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis also homered. But the big moment came in the bottom of the first when Pittsburgh starter Joe Musgrove clipped Josh Donaldson's jersey, Donaldson said a few words along the lines of "Don't look at me" and then the benches emptied:

Benches clear as #Braves' Josh Donaldson is hit by a pitch by Pirates' Joe Musgrove. pic.twitter.com/7xKeHgC9Fn

— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) June 10, 2019

In the silliness that followed, plate umpire Brian Gorman ejected Donaldson, Musgrove and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. Musgrove said Gorman told him it was for taking off his hat and glove -- even though if you watch the replay, Musgrove didn't remove his hat until well after both benches had emptied. It seemed a terrible decision by Gorman, especially given that the pitch didn't really hit Donaldson's body (just his flapping jersey) and Donaldson instigated the episode with his beef over a pitch that wasn't even that far inside.

Joe Musgrove on his ejection: pic.twitter.com/SScIX8Dirw

— Adam Berry (@adamdberry) June 11, 2019

Aside from the home runs and the ejection, the other key was Sean Newcomb's 4⅔ innings of one-hit relief after Kevin Gausman left early. Newcomb has been very good out of the bullpen since his return from the minors, although this was his first extended outing. Obviously, Dallas Keuchel will take over in the rotation (probably for Mike Foltynewicz), but Newcomb could be a possibility to return to the rotation if Gausman continues to struggle.

Rockies, Cubs combine for six home runs: Hey, just a regular game at Coors Field. Remember the stat about Eickhoff allowing five fly balls and five home runs? Rockies starter German Marquez allowed two fly balls -- and three home runs (apparently one of the home runs was classified as a line drive). Anyway, in six innings he didn't record a single fly ball out. The Rockies won 6-5 with a run in the eighth inning, but the fun, non-homer highlight of the game came from Nolan Arenado:

#Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado and 2B Ryan McMahon pull off a slick play to retire #Cubs Carlos Gonzalez pic.twitter.com/ve9FHf8bJN

— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) June 11, 2019

Hyun-Jin Ryu allows home run! In this season of the home run, Ryu's performance feels all the more remarkable. Kole Calhoun's home run off him was the first Ryu had allowed since April 26, eight starts ago. (He'd allowed just three runs in those seven starts.) That was the only run the Angels got off Ryu in six innings, although he ended up with a no-decision when the bullpen blew his 3-1 lead.

Former world number one Boris Becker has called on tennis players under the age of 28 to "show up" and start challenging for Grand Slam titles.

With Nadal winning the French Open, the last 10 Slams have been won by either the 33-year-old, Novak Djokovic, 32, or Roger Federer, 37.

Dominic Thiem, 25, is the only male player currently aged under 28 to have reached a Grand Slam final.

"That is not good," six-time Grand Slam champion Becker said.

"That is not a compliment for anybody under 28.

"And don't give me that the others are too good. We should question the quality and the attitude of everybody under 28. It just doesn't make sense. As much as I respect Roger, Rafa, Novak - who else? Show up. Give me something I want to talk about."

Austrian Thiem has reached two successive French Open finals and took a set from Nadal at Roland Garros on Sunday.

He defeated Djokovic in the semi-finals, while Greek 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas beat 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer at the Australian Open.

To date, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro - all now over the age of 30 - are the only players other than Nadal, Djokovic and Federer to have won a Grand Slam title since the Spaniard won at Roland Garros in 2005.

"Eventually they will be too old. But you want to see the passing of the torch while they are still in their prime," added Becker, who won Wimbledon at the age of 17.

"You want to see Stefanos and Dominic beating them when they are still very, very good.

"It's not the forehands. It's not the fitness. It's a certain mentality, mindset, attitude that makes the difference between winning and losing."

Nadal, Djokovic and Federer have won 53 Grand Slam titles between them, and there have long been fears as to what will happen to tennis' popularity once they retire.

"There will be a dip. People have to get used to the new players," said Becker. "There will be a 'wow' moment. 'Wow, we're not talking about Roger and Rafa any more'.

"But we said the same thing with [John] McEnroe and [Jimmy] Connors, [Andre] Agassi and [Pete] Sampras. Maybe myself and [Stefan] Edberg and [Mats] Wilander.

"Tennis will always continue with great new stars. But there will be a dip and then the spotlight will be on the young generation to say, 'Now, show up. Who are you? Are you good enough, can you carry the sport, or was it all a bluff?'"

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – His father won his class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998. His brother won his class at Le Mans in 2015.

Making his sixth appearance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend, Ricky Taylor is looking to add to his family’s legacy of success in the prestigious French endurance race. He should have a good shot at it, too.

He will be competing in the LMP2 class. With a 20-car entry list, it’s the largest of the four competing classes, but the Jackie Chan DC Racing team for which Taylor is driving has enjoyed recent success at Le Mans.

In 2017, the LMP2 team swept the top two positions in class and very nearly took the overall victory. As it was, the team’s No. 38 ORECA finished on the overall podium in second, followed by the No. 37 Jackie Chan DC Racing entry in third place.

This year, Taylor is sharing the No. 37 with David Heinemeier Hansson – a GTE Am class winner at Le Mans in 2014 – and British driver Jordan King, who last month competed in his first Indianapolis 500. King and Heinemeier Hansson also teamed up with Will Stevens to win the grueling FIA World Endurance Championship’s (WEC) 1,000 Miles of Sebring in March, which also bodes well for his and the team’s chances.

“Le Mans is such a complex event, as all sports car races are,” Taylor says. “But Le Mans is such a tough one. Being that it’s on city streets, you never get to test there. The race weekend goes in so many different ways. The track conditions are always changing. You get very limited laps with how long the track is.

“So, every year, regardless of how competitive your equipment might be, every year you’re gaining knowledge and gaining experience and it helps you each year after that. So, having quite a few years under my belt now, I feel quite prepared. I think we’ve got all the pieces in place as far as the team and the car, mechanics, drivers, I think we’ve got everything ready to go hopefully win this thing.”

This weekend’s race will mark five races since Ricky’s younger brother, Jordan, co-drove the No. 64 Corvette C7.R to the GTE Pro class victory at Le Mans with Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner. Ironically, that was the only year since 2013 that Ricky didn’t compete at Le Mans.

It’s also 21 years since his father, Wayne Taylor, took the LMP1 class victory at Le Mans with co-drivers Fermin Velez and Eric van de Poele in a Doyle-Risi Racing Ferrari 333SP. Ricky was eight years old when that happened.

Le Mans is the one crown jewel of sports car racing that has eluded Ricky to this point. He’s won at Daytona, Sebring, Motul Petit Le Mans and many others. So, he’s eager to check that Le Mans box.

“Le Mans is a massive event,” he said. “I think any driver in the world, if you win the race – regardless of which class you win it in – it goes right at the top of your résumé. There’s a number of American drivers going, but to be able to come back to America with a trophy would be an absolute honor.”

In addition to representing America, Taylor heads to Le Mans among many representatives of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. As full-season co-driver of the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi with Helio Castroneves, Taylor is in the midst of a tough 2019 DPi championship battle, which reached its halfway point with the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park on June 1.

He and Castroneves are currently third in the DPi standings, trailing points co-leaders Pipo Derani – who also is competing at Le Mans in the GTE Pro class in the No. 89 Risi Competizione Ferrari – and Felipe Nasr by six points, 152-146, and teammates Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 6 Acura by one point.

Taylor feels strongly that the close competition he faces with regularity in the WeatherTech Championship will benefit him at Le Mans.

“The LMP2 class at Le Mans is always very competitive and there’s a lot of very good cars,” he says. “I think coming from the WeatherTech Championship, we’re used to battling head-to-head. The way our races go with the full-course yellows, you’re always fighting somebody tooth and nail. That’s something that they don’t have as much of over in Europe.

“So, I think maybe we’re a little bit more accustomed to the head-to-head battling, whereas in Le Mans, you’re racing against the clock every lap, which is a challenge on its own. But I think coming from America, we’re used to this head-to-head, every lap matters sort of racing, and I think going there, we’re always fresh and on our toes.”

BROOKLYN, Mich. – No one was even in the same zip code as Joey Logano on Monday afternoon at Michigan Int’l Speedway.

Logano, who started from the pole in Monday’s rain-delayed Firekeepers Casino 400, led 161 laps en route to a dominant victory at Michigan Int’l Speedway.

“A day like that, you don’t get those days all the time,” Logano said from victory lane.

Logano, the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, was in control of the Firekeepers Casino 400 from the moment the green flag waved. He was rarely challenged, typically only giving the lead up for a few laps at a time when other cars were able to get a run on him or during pit stop cycles.

The last such pit stop cycle began with 28 laps left, with Logano hitting the pits with 26 laps left. It took a little more than 10 laps, but when the cycle was complete with 15 laps left Logano was back in front by nearly a second over Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch.

Initially it didn’t appear Truex and Busch were going to be able to catch Logano, but with seven laps left the two began working together by drafting off one another and they quickly began to close the gap on Logano.

With five laps left Truex had caught Logano and was looking for a way by, but moments later Erik Jones went for a spin in turns one and two, leading to the final caution flag of the afternoon.

The ensuing overtime restart saw Logano get a massive jump on the field, allowing him to pull clear of Truex just past the start/finish line. Busch was able to get alongside Truex and take the second position as Logano tried to distance himself.

Busch tried his best, but he wasn’t able to do anything with Logano over the final lap and a half as the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang earned his second victory of the season.

“What a great execution day. Our race car was obviously very fast, our pit crew was amazing. T.J. Majors, my spotter, spotted his butt off up there,” said Logano, who has won three races at Michigan Int’l Speedway from the pole during his career. “There is nothing like bring a Ford to victory lane on their home turf, and Roger Penske’s cars as well. There is no better feeling than that. This is a big win for us.”

Busch’s second-place finish Monday afternoon matched his best result of the season in the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Chip Ganassi Racing.

“I had a blast. That was the tightest I’ve ever put my belts at the end of a race,” Busch said. “We got enough stage points today and I was like hell with it, we don’t need to get anything but the win. We got second today. Logano’s car was tough.

“I really wanted it to go green at the end with Truex. I was just going to push Truex straight through the 22 (Logano). That was my best shot at it.”

Truex ended up third at the checkered flag, followed by Daniel Suarez and Kyle Busch.

Kevin Harvick, who seemed to be the only driver throughout Monday’s race who could keep up with Logano, ended up seventh after taking four tires during the final pit stop cycle while most others took two.

CONCORD, N.C. – Though he’s spent much of the last two years racing dirt late models in North and South Carolina, Carson Ferguson looked like he’d never left the Bojangles’ Summer Shootout during opening night on Monday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The 19-year-old charged from ninth to the win in the headlining Pro division feature, driving the same Ladyga Motorsports No. 48 that he took to the Young Lions championship five years earlier.

Mark Green (Masters), Jason Alder (Semi-Pro), Landon Rapp (Young Lions), Layton Harrison (Bandolero Bandits) and Josh Horniman (Beginner Bandolero) were also winners in their respective divisions during the first of 10 races on the Summer Shootout calendar.

Ferguson rolled to his 23rd career win in the annual summer series for Legend cars and Bandoleros on the frontstretch quarter-mile, passing race-long leader Chase Scott on a lap-15 restart and pacing the final 11 circuits uncontested.

Monday night’s victory was Ferguson’s second Pro win in Shootout competition and the first triumph in the top class for the Ladyga Motorsports No. 48 since Derek Lemke’s round three victory in 2018.

“It’s just like riding a bike – when you do something for so long, it’s easy to pick back up,” said Ferguson in victory lane. “It was hard to get going in the first few laps, but we figured it out.

“It’s always good to win in front of my home crowd,” he added. “The Summer Shootout is a great opportunity and to come back and get a win is awesome.”

Ashton Higgins, making his first Legend car appearance since February of 2017, finished 2.021 seconds adrift of Ferguson in second. Garrett Manes completed the podium after driving through the field twice.

Joey Padgett crossed fourth and Vince Midas, a late model regular at Hickory Motor Speedway, was fifth.

Zach Miller and Daniel Wilk ran second and third for the first portion of the Pro feature, but came together in turn four on the 12th lap and both spun briefly before continuing.

Wilk finished seventh and Miller came home ninth after 25 laps.

Green used a last-corner pass of defending Masters division champion Robby Faggart to secure the first win of the season in the “over 40” class, fighting to the inside lane in turn three and winning a drag-race to the finish line by .054 seconds.

The victory was the fourth Masters win of Green’s Summer Shootout career. He led only the final lap.

“I didn’t really mean to get into him that hard,” Green said. “It was a good little bump-and-run deal. We had a really good race there. We had a good night. I usually start out pretty slow and work my way up, so it’s nice to get a win (early in the season).”

Faggart, who jumped up the outside from fourth to take the lead in the first corner, was in command for the first 24 laps of the caution-free feature but came home a disappointing second.

Jon Craig, Todd Midas and Bruce Silver followed in third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Alder claimed a commanding victory in Semi-Pro action, jumping to the lead on the initial start and pacing all 25 laps to win with his neon green and white No. 77 for Steven Ross Motorsports.

The soon-to-be 16-year-old took the checkered flag 5.042 seconds in front of runner-up Gracie Trotter.

“It’s an honor to be standing here right now. I’ve never won at Charlotte Motor Speedway before,” Alder said. “I can’t thank Bojangles’ enough for sponsoring this series. The Bojangles’ Summer Shootout is the best Legend car series in the world.

“(The key to winning) was adjusting my car to the track as the race went on.”

D.J. Canipe completed the Semi-Pro podium, followed by Isabella Robusto and her younger brother, William Robusto.

Though Canadian Austin MacDonald crossed the finish line first in the Young Lions division, Landon Rapp was declared the winner after MacDonald was assessed a penalty for his bumper becoming partially detached mid-way through the 25-lap feature.

Rapp’s victory is the seventh of his Summer Shootout career and his first at CMS in a Legend car.

“I wasn’t sure if we’d won, because they gave him (MacDonald) the checkered flag, even though I’d seen them black-flag him earlier on,” noted Rapp. “This is cool, though. It’s a tough break for Austin, but I’m so happy to win another one here at the Summer Shootout. It’s been a little while.”

Sam Butler, Tommy Good, early leader Tristan Borkowski and Jake Waltman completed the top five.

MacDonald, who took the lead on lap nine, was demoted to 24th in the 25-car field after his penalty.

Harrison passed Lucas Vera on lap 11 en route to the Bandits division victory, while Horniman came out on top of a back-and-forth tussle with Katie Yonchuk in the Beginner Bandolero main event for his win.

The Bandolero Outlaw feature was rained out and rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon, after a drizzle began falling at the speedway following a multi-car crash on the initial start of the 20-lap race.

To view race results for all divisions, advance to the next page.

Fans in St. Louis looking to watch the Blues in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final with a few thousand friends have another option: Busch Stadium.

The Bruins will host the decisive game in Boston on Wednesday, and tickets to the Blues' watch party at their 18,400-seat Enterprise Center sold out in 31 minutes on Monday, according to St. Louis TV station KSDK.

So to meet the demand, the Blues announced a second party where fans can watch the game on a big screen, this one to be held at the 46,000-seat home of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Tickets for the event at the ballpark will go on sale Tuesday on the Cardinals' website, with proceeds benefiting Cardinals Care and Blues for Kids charities.

The Blues also sold out the watch parties at Enterprise Center to watch the first three Stanley Cup Final games hosted by Boston.