Houston Astros rookie Joey Loperfido’s quick thinking led to a wild, bare-handed catch at the outfield wall Friday.
Loperfido, who was playing right field as Houston faced the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, leaped in the air in a bid to catch a fly ball hit by Willi Castro in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The ball flew out of his glove, however, only for him to wind up catching it with his right hand as he fell down to the field.
Loperfido then tried to double off Minnesota’s Christian Vázquez as he retreated to first base, but Vázquez beat the throw back.
The play at the wall was initially ruled a no-catch but, after a successful challenge by the Astros, it was overturned.
Houston held on to beat Minnesota 13-12.
You can check out Loperfido’s circus catch below.
In a postgame interview with Space City Home Network’s Julia Morales, Loperfido joked that the catch was “just like we practiced.”
He also said that the play went down “kind of in slow motion,” MLB.com reported.
“I just sort of snagged it on my way down,” said Loperfido, who had hit a ground-rule double to put the Astros ahead 6-4 in the top of the sixth inning.
“But [center fielder] Jake [Meyers] and I were like, ‘Somebody has to be out.’ We didn’t know who,” he added. “Funny play, cool play. I’d like to catch it the first time, but I’ll take it.”
Twins shortstop Carlos Correa said the catch has “got to be” one of the best of the year.
“That was very impressive,” Correa said. “He even gave a headache to the umpires, so you know how crazy that play was.”
Social media users had nothing but praise for Loperfido, calling his catch “INCREDIBLE.”