Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim came to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning of Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night and hit what looked like it would be a routine groundout to first base.
He did ground out, but the play was anything but routine for Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker.
Heim hit a 2-2 offering from pitcher Merrill Kelly down the first base line. While Heim hit the ball well, Walker, 2022’s National League Gold Glove Award winner at first base, seemed well positioned. Then, things got weird.
First, Heim’s grounder hit first base, causing the ball to bounce away from where Walker was going. Walker could no longer get a glove on the ball, but that didn’t stop him. He reached back with his bare right hand to snag the ball. He then flipped it to Kelly, who was covering first, for the easy out.
The incredible defensive play had baseball fans buzzing on Saturday night.
The groundout was the first out of the inning for the Diamondbacks. One hitter earlier, Texas’ Mitch Garver cut Arizona’s 2-0 lead in half with a solo home run. Josh Jung reached later in the inning with a two-out infield single. Certainly if the bad hop had gotten away from Walker, the rest of the inning might have had a much different dynamic.
[Photo Credit: Fox]
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