Calhoun stars in 'When HR robberies go wrong'

ARLINGTON -- Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun almost made a terrific leaping catch at the wall against the Rangers in the fourth inning on Tuesday. Almost.

But instead of getting the thrill of robbing Asdrubal Cabrera of a home run, Calhoun may have provided the impetus for the ball getting over the fence as it bounced off his glove.

Calhoun was looking at his glove in disbelief while Cabrera was circling the bases on his sixth home run of the season in the Rangers' 5-0 victory at Globe Life Park. The replay showed Calhoun getting his glove on the ball at the apex of his leap at the fence. It was inconclusive as to whether the ball would have cleared the fence without Calhoun’s help.

“I saw the replay on the screen, just like you guys did.” Calhoun said. “It was close. I tried to make a play on the ball. I hit the ball and it popped over. That’s kind of bad luck right there. Definitely frustrating. You don’t ever want to see that happen. We’re out there trying to save runs for our pitchers and I might have given them two there. As a guy who takes pride in his defense, to see that ball pop over, it sucks.”

It was a crucial play. The Rangers had a 1-0 lead at the time and that would have been the third out of the inning for Angels starter Jaime Barria.

“That was big,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “Cabby has an angel hanging on his shoulder right now because Calhoun is an elite defender. Normally he catches that ball. Fortunate for that ball to bounce over the fence. Obviously, that’s huge for us to get a three-run lead as opposed to a one-run lead."