"Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young was willing to look on the bright side after a Home Run Derby performance on Monday evening that saw him hit just one home run, the fewest of any of the eight participants at Angel Stadium.

For starters, he did get on the scoreboard. And, for any of those worried about him messing up his swing for the season's second half, all those line drives he was hitting in lieu of homers looked like pretty good evidence that nothing's changed.

"All my teammates at home were basically saying I better not come back with a goose egg," he said. "So I got that first one and I was feeling pretty good about it."

Young patted his heart and breathed a sigh of relief after his home run, which followed a pair of line drives to the left side for outs.

"After those first two outs, I was like, 'Uh-oh,' " he said.

Young said he wasn't able to adjust his swing quickly enough in time for the Derby.

"That's not a bad thing," he said. "In the long run, I'd much rather have my line-drive swing than my home-run swing.

"Nobody has to worry about my swing getting turned around. It was line drives the entire time."

Young said he was surprisingly calm before stepping into the batter's box to lead off the competition. But he noted that the setting took some getting used to.

"I'm not used to people talking to me while I'm hitting," he said. "I'm not used to the PA guy talking. It's definitely different. They take that turtle (batting cage) away from you and you're pretty much naked, just you and the pitcher."

Smiling throughout the interview, Young sounded like he enjoyed every moment of the competition and the experience. He said he was able to chat up St. Louis' Albert Pujols in the lunchroom and was talking with Philadelphia's Ryan Howard outside the dugout."