{"id":283574,"date":"2024-06-17T09:03:31","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T14:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=283574"},"modified":"2024-06-17T09:03:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T14:03:32","slug":"martin-makes-hr-robbing-catch-in-his-return-to-majors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=283574","title":{"rendered":"Martin Makes HR-Robbing Catch in His Return To Majors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mn Twins – Austin Martin<\/a>\u00a0made one of those catches that words simply can\u2019t fully describe on Sunday, when he jumped up and reached over the center-field wall to rob Shea Langeliers of a two-run homer in the second inning with what was certainly one of the best home run robberies to have taken place at Target Field in the ballpark\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHell yeah, I was surprised!\u201d Martin said. \u201cI felt it go in my glove, but my whole arm kind of went over, so I didn’t know what I would be bringing back. I didn’t expect to bring back a baseball, so when I looked and I had it, I was like, \u2018Dang, that’s not bad.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That felt like the only ball that didn\u2019t leave Target Field as part of a slugging battle, during which Martin also cracked two hits, including a go-ahead RBI double. Royce Lewis continued his tear with a homer and Jose Miranda crushed the eventual game-winning blast in an 8-7 win<\/a> over the A\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the youth movement rising to the occasion, the Twins finished a four-game sweep of the A\u2019s at home by winning both games in Sunday\u2019s doubleheader, putting them firmly back on one of their upswings as part of this seesaw season — this time, featuring seven wins in their last eight games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The catch] might be a game-saving play in and of itself, but it was huge in the moment and it was huge at the end,\u201d manager Rocco Baldelli said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin\u2019s highlight-reel catch helped set the tone, and for a taste of how it felt in the moment, just watch the emotional odyssey of the relievers in the A\u2019s bullpen, who had a front-row seat to the catch as it unfolded at the wall separating them from the warning track in left-center field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oakland right-hander Vinny Nittoli had his arms raised in celebration long before the ball came to earth, and T.J. McFarland crouched in eager anticipation next to Nittoli, ready to explode in triumph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, there was only agony when Martin perfectly timed his leap from the warning track, reached back and snared the ball on its way down. McFarland contorted his body in a spin as he threw his hands up to his head, while Nittoli crouched with balled fists in disbelief. Sitting in a chair next to the scene, left-hander Brady Basso just threw up his arms in defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was awesome,\u201d Carlos Correa said. \u201cIt’s good when you can replace [Byron Buxton] in center field and still have a guy that can make those types of plays.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And behind them, Twins right-hander Louie Varland\u2019s mouth gaped in shock as he threw his own arms up in triumph — as did bullpen catcher Anderson De La Rosa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one he\u2019ll be able to look back on throughout his career,\u201d Baldelli said. \u201cYou\u2019re only going to save so many home runs, no matter who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk about a statement return to the Majors for Martin — and talk about a continued statement in every way for Lewis, who homered in both halves of the doubleheader as part of the Twins\u2019 seven-homer outburst in bashing their way to the sweep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After yanking a pitch just foul that had plenty of distance to reach the seats but barely couldn\u2019t stay fair, Lewis sent the very next offering even farther, an estimated 427 feet into left-center, where there was very little doubt that it would stay fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, the Twins just shake their heads and watch Lewis as he\u2019s on the sort of tear that\u2019s seemingly consistent whenever he\u2019s healthy — something he even alluded to himself upon his return from his quadriceps tear, when he noted in the third person: \u201cRoyce is going to play like Royce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI get crap for it for sure,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cI love it. I don’t care. It’s true. That’s all I’m going to do — is do what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It shouldn\u2019t come as any surprise, too, that Lewis is now the only player in Twins history to homer seven times in his first 12 games of a season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s just what he does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProbably don\u2019t follow what I\u2019m mouthing while he\u2019s taking these swings, because it\u2019s more than anything I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Baldelli said. \u201cThere\u2019s a dangerous nature about him at the plate. When he\u2019s on your side, you can\u2019t help but smile when he\u2019s doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mn Twins – Austin Martin\u00a0made one of those catches that words simply can\u2019t fully describe on Sunday, when he jumped up and reached over the center-field wall to rob Shea Langeliers of a two-run homer in the second inning with what was certainly one of the best home run robberies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":283575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-283574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=283574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283576,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283574\/revisions\/283576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/283575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=283574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=283574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=283574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}