Houston Astros rookie Joey Loperfido’s quick thinking led to a wild, barehanded catch at the wall on Friday.
Loperfido, who was playing right field as Houston faced the Minnesota Twins, leaped in the air and tried to catch a fly ball hit by Willi Castro in the bottom of the 8th 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 proceeded to throw the ball to try and get Minnesota’s Christian Vázquez as he made his way back to first base.
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 in a 13-12 win.
You can check out Loperfido’s circus catch below.
Loperfido, in a post-game interview with Space City Home Network’s Julia Morales, joked that the catch was “just like we practiced.”
He said that the play went down “kind of in slow motion,” MLB.com reported.
“And I just sort of snagged it on my way down,” said Loperfido, who hit a ground rule double to put the Astros ahead 6-4 in the top of the 6th inning.
“But [center fielder] Jake [Meyers] and I were like, ‘Somebody has to be out.’ We didn’t know who. He had a good angle and said, ‘I really didn’t think it touched the wall.’ 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.
“I mean, the way he climbed up that wall, hit the glove, stayed with it, caught it barehanded. 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 on Friday.
