SI

TJ Friedl Pulled Off an Unreal Home Run Robbery to Save the Game for the Reds

Can a single catch be worth one full point of WAR?

Tyler Lauletta

TJ Friedl steals a home run and saves the game.
TJ Friedl steals a home run and saves the game. / @MLB / X
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Cincinnati Reds center fielder TJ Friedl saved the game on Tuesday night with a home run robbery that will live on his highlight reel forever.

With the Reds leading the Milwaukee Brewers 4–2 in the ninth inning and the Brewers down to their last out with a man on second, pinch hitter Jake Bauers stepped to the plate and smacked what looked like a surefire, game-tying home run.

But Friedl refused to let the game slip away, tracking the ball and making a leaping grab, pulling the ball back from beyond the fence to steal the home run and end the game.

Reds win, cue the fireworks.

Look at this beauty.

If you were thinking “Wow, that is a catch you literally dream about,” Friedl agrees, and said as much after the game.

“You dream of that as a kid—as an outfielder growing up—in your backyard robbing home runs,” Friedl told reporters. “You always dream of walk-offs, but ending it like that was special.”

This one wasn’t a dream TJ—that’s a real play you just made in the majors.

There’s simply nothing like a game-saving catch.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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