Another week of baseball is in the books! Players are starting to hit their stride with gold gloves and silver sluggers getting polished up. Let’s take a look at the five plays that defined the past week in the Majors.
5. Yunel Escobar Saves Face For His Closer
April has been a struggle for the Washington Nationals. They sit tied for last in the NL East with Philadelphia. On Tuesday night, it looked like another game was slipping away from them. Closer Drew Storen blew the save in the ninth inning to St. Louis on a Matt Holliday RBI single. Yunel Escobar refused to let his team’s stopper be the goat when he stepped up with two outs in the tenth. He launched a solo shot off Carlos Villanueva and gave his side a much needed W. However, manager Matt Williams probably could have gone without the head first slide into home.
4. Freddy Galvis Puts His Body On The Line
The Phillies knew 2015 was not going to be a pretty year for them, but there are some pretty diamonds inside those piles of coal. The Fightin’ Phils lost their twelfth game of the season on Saturday, but in the sixth inning got a glimpse of one of those diamonds. Nick Markakis hit a ball up the middle off starter David Buchanan that seemed destined for the outfield grass, but shortstop Freddy Galvis would not have that. The slick fielding Venezuelan laid out and snared the one hopping liner. From his stomach, he flopped over like a fish out of water and threw a strike to first that beat the fleet-footed Markakis by a step. Galvis looked to hurt his shoulder on the play but would return the next inning.
3. Juan Lagares Fights The Wind And Wins
It was a blustery Wednesday night at Citi Field as the Mets tried to continue their hot start against another surprise team in the Braves. The Mets were down 2-1 in the seventh inning when Dillon Gee gave up a tailing drive to dead center to Jace Peterson. The reigning NL Gold Glove in center field didn’t look to get the best of jumps. The wind did him no favors either, but in the end Lagares made a spectacular over the shoulder catch reaching back behind his head to the left. It stymied what would have been at least a triple and allowed the Mets to come back over the next two innings for the victory.
2. Cue The Broken Record: Nolan Arenado Makes Spectacular Play
Nolan Arenado continued his reign of terror over every ball hit down the third base line, and the second spot on this list, on Friday night. The game between Colorado and San Francisco was tied 3-3 in the 4th inning. Starter Eddie Butler had gotten himself into a bit of trouble with runners at first and second and nobody out. Casey McGehee looked to pile on the woe when he laced a bullet down the third base line. The aforementioned Arenado however cleanly snagged the blast and beat Brandon Belt to the bag at third before unleashing a bulls-eye throw across the diamond to double up McGehee. The play kept the game manageable for the tentative Butler. Colorado would eventually come back to win the game 6-4.
1. Alex Gordon Usurps Pillar For Play Of The Season
Kevin Pillar didn’t have that long of a stay at the top of our heap of amazing plays. There has been a lot of bad blood shown between the White Sox and Royals over the past couple days. The North Side faithful couldn’t help but clap after the bottom of the sixth inning. Alex Gordon, a perennial Gold Glover in left field, chased down a Micah Johnson foul ball into the stands. Instead of slowing down as the wall loomed, Gordon took flight into the first row of seats to make the catch. He got a good chuckle with a fellow number four in the stands (a White Sox fan wearing a #4 Guerrero jersey) and befuddled announcers and teammate Edinson Volquez alike.