The Boston Red Sox finished off a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday. Reliever Chris Martin pitched a scoreless ninth inning to finish off the 7-3 victory. In the process of pitching that scoreless ninth, Martin made one of the more unusual defensive plays you’ll ever see.
Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. came up with one out and a runner on first. He hit what looked to be a routine chopper back to Martin. It ended up being anything but.
As Martin backed up to field the chopper, he lost his footing on the pitcher’s mound and tripped backward. Fortunately for Martin and Red Sox, he fell into perfect position and barehanded the ball while on his back. Martin then threw the ball over to first base. And while Martin’s throw couldn’t reach first baseman Dominic Smith on the fly, it bounced into his glove in plenty of time to get Guerrero.
While there was some initial concern that Martin might have injured himself on the fall, he stayed in the game and retired the next hitter, Daulton Varsho, to end it.
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