Boston Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts officially entered the Catch of the Year discussion on Friday.
With starter Rich Hill hurling a shutout in the ninth inning, Betts went above and nearly beyond the wall to rob Chris Davis of his 44th home run and secure the final out of Boston's 7-0 victory.
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We're not kidding when we say beyond the wall, either. Betts nearly went head over heels into the Red Sox bullpen after leaping and landing back first on the short right field wall. Betts somehow managed to first catch the baseball and then secure it in the process of tumbling over the wall.
Even more amazing, Betts had the presence of mind to reach out with his right hand, grab the wall, and then brace himself before going over completely.
Here's another incredible look.
We could watch this over and over from every possible angle. That is a top notch effort from a team that's simply playing out the string in 2015.
You could hear the pure joy in the voice of Red Sox play-by-play man Don Orsillo. That was mostly because of the play itself, but we imagine there was also some happiness for Rich Hill.
As we noted, the great grab preserved the shutout for Hill, which in and of itself is notable considering how far he's come just to get another shot in MLB. After injuries and ineffectiveness knocked him out of MLB for the past three seasons, the now 35-year-old left-hander is back and making Red Sox history.
Rich Hill is the only pitcher in the last 100 years to record at least 10 SO in each of his first 3 career starts with any single AL team.
— Jon Shestakofsky (@Shesta_Sox) September 26, 2015
Longest Red Sox Streaks with 10+ SO and no more than 1 BB, last 100 Years: 3 Games, Rich Hill in 2015 3 Games, Pedro Martinez in 1999
— Jon Shestakofsky (@Shesta_Sox) September 26, 2015
September baseball usually has one or two great comeback stories. Count Rich Hill among those for 2015.
On the Orioles side of things, we can't imagine the frustration Chris Davis must be feeling. True, he leads all of MLB with 43 home runs this season, but he also leads MLB with five home runs that have been taken away. Avisail Garcia, J.B. Shuck, J.D. Martinez, Billy Burns and now Betts have all gone above the wall to rob Davis this season, which will likely keep him from a second 50-home run season.
Every one of those plays was really good, but we'd be hard-pressed to find a better home run robbery all season. It may even go down as the best all-around defensive play. It was that good.
Our hats are off to you, Mookie Betts.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
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