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Somebody tell Kevin Kiermaier that it’s not Halloween yet because for some reason he’s already trying to be Superman.
In the top of the ninth and top of the 10th innings, Kiermaier took away two sure hits from the Red Sox in a close game with some center field heroism.
The first was the more impressive of the two, even though both were leaping catches that couldn’t have been easy no matter how flawless they looked. In the ninth inning, Kiermaier fully laid out to snag a ball out of the air and it was straight up awesome.
I mean, look at this and tell me it’s not awesome.
Is that Superman? Nope, just @KKiermaier39.
— #Statcast (@statcast) September 16, 2017
The #Rays Gold Glover strikes for another play, converting an 18% catch probability. pic.twitter.com/89CoJUZ9GB
That’s the kind of stuff you try as a kid and accidentally break your nose doing.
Here’s a GIF if you, like me, can’t look away that easily.
Oh my goodness what a catch by Kiermaier pic.twitter.com/uRj0cKM7gu
— Ozzie (@OzzieStern) September 16, 2017
The second catch was a step down on the WOW scale, since he’s actually facing the ball and everything, but it’s still darn cool.
Hey @KKiermaier39 can you stop please? #RedSox #Rays #MLB pic.twitter.com/YUTWOVKXT6
— Andrew Tashian (@Tashville401) September 16, 2017
That’s the more important catch, seeing as it not only robbed Mookie Betts of a hit but that it did so in an extra innings game.
Even if the Rays end up losing the game, Kiermaier did more than his fair share to keep it within their grasp up to the very end. And impressed everyone watching in the process.