Brewers first baseman Jesús Aguilar falls in the opening round of the Home Run Derby

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Rhys Hoskins set the bar awfully high in the first round of the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby on Monday night, and Brewers slugger Jesús Aguilar couldn't catch up despite socking 12 home runs.

Hoskins defeated Aguilar, 17-12, in the opening round of the Derby bracket in Washington.

Aguilar came into the battle as the No. 1 seed after swatting 24 first-half home runs – the most in the National League and the most of any participant in the Derby. The true bracket paired Aguilar against the second-year Phillies outfielder, who hit 14 homers in the first half of the regular season but is not part of the actual All-Star Game roster.

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The format in the opening round gave competitors 4 minutes to swing, with a 30-second bonus added for a homer that exceeded 440 feet. Neither Hoskins nor Aguilar hit that threshold. Batters also were afforded a single timeout during their set.

Hoskins got into a groove after taking a timeout midway through his 4-minute window and delivered a huge number, including a flurry in the final minute after it appeared he had grown fatigued.

It seemed Aguilar was hurt by two factors – a deliberate pace that never enabled him to put in the necessary volume of swings and a towering number of baseballs that shortened his window to work with. Rules dictate that batting-practice pitchers (in this case, Brewers first-base coach Carlos Subero) couldn't throw his next pitch until the previous ball landed.

Aguilar will be one of a franchise-record five Brewers competing in Tuesday night's All-Star Game.