Ali Newland, left, Ryan Zimmerman, and Chris McHugh after their HRDX championship.

DURHAM, N.C. -- There are still three more Home Run Derby X events to go until the finals in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sept. 19-20, but the Nationals have already emerged as an early favorite.

Mr. National himself, Ryan Zimmerman, and AUSL All-Star Cup slugger Ali Newland had already booked a place in the final thanks to some help from Ian Desmond with a victory at the Atlanta event held during the All-Star break. So, on Saturday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Zimmerman and Newland's job was to help their new teammate -- NC State slugger Chris McHugh -- lock up his own Wild Card spot at SLC.

"When any of us do anything, whether it's baseball, cards, whatever, we want to win," Zimmerman said before

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