Clint Frazier nearly blasted a go-ahead HR, but instead, Adeiny Hechavarria caught it off the Rays' roof
Baby Bomber Clint Frazier thought he would try to put his team up by starting off the ninth inning of a tied game Sunday with a blast deep into the left-field seats.
And he did hit a blast -- except the Tropicana Field roof ate it up ... and then delivered it into Adeiny Hechavarría's glove for an out:
The roof speaker was located in the B-Ring section of the stadium, which means any balls hit off it are in play. It's still some incredible focus by Hechavarria -- and very kind of The Trop creatures to hand it off to him.
MLB.com correspondent Joey Johnston talked to left fielder Mallex Smith about the play postgame:
"I saw it off the bat and I was like, 'OK, that's a play at the wall.' It was so high you couldn't tell how far it would go. I was bracing for it. Then I lost it. I'm panicking. I can't see the ball. All of a sudden, Hech catches it. Amazing! That's just a big play, heads-up. It's easy for an infielder to put your head down when the ball goes there (to the outfield). He kept his head on it and stayed with it. That's a big play.''
Johnston also spoke to Hechavarria, who actually had a similar thing happen to him earlier this year and got hit in the face.
"As the play was happening (Sunday against the Yankees), I immediately thought about that moment. I told myself, 'That's not going to happen again.' ''
"Here, you've always got to follow it. You can never give up.''
Rays manager Kevin Cash was happy about the outcome.
"That was a big play. The last time that happened, it busted him in the eye. I'm glad he used his glove instead of his face.''
And Frazier was simply perplexed.
"It was weird. It was like hitting a bird in the sky.''
The play indeed ended up being a big one, as the Rays would walk off, 7-6, three innings later on Jake Bauers' first career walk-off homer. Of course, home run or no, that didn't stop Tampa from sending along the bill: