'Izzy does Izzy things': Isbel wows with sensational catch

KANSAS CITY -- When Taylor Walls barreled a 95 mph sinker from Royals closer James McArthur, way out to center field in the ninth inning Wednesday night, a wave of emotions went through the minds of every single person -- on and off the field -- watching it fly for 5.1 seconds.

“He smoked that ball,” manager Matt Quatraro thought from his perch in the Royals' dugout. Beside him was bench coach Paul Hoover, who was only watching center fielder Kyle Isbel run 100 feet straight back to the wall, thinking, “Can he get there?”

“We’re going to have to make a play at the plate,” shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said he was thinking.

“I knew I hit it well,” Walls said. “I didn’t really know how it was going to carry. … But he was running back, so I knew I got it probably better than I thought I did.”

As for Isbel, whose job was to try to make the catch on the 101.8 mph rocket heading fast toward the center field wall?

“I knew off the bat I was going to have a shot at it,” he said. “I knew there was going to be a collision. But the game was on the line.”

As the ball fell toward the 410-foot sign on the outfield wall at Kauffman Stadium, Isbel leaped up, grabbed it, crashed into the wall, held onto the ball as it snowconed out the tip of his glove and crashed to the ground to secure the second out of the inning. Then, he made the throw back to the infield in time to save a run and send the Royals to a 4-2 win over the Rays.

The crowd roared as Isbel got to his feet, slightly shaken by the collision. The Royals' dugout erupted in celebration. Cole Ragans, watching from the top railing, stood straight up with his arm in the air, mouth agape in amazement.

McArthur, nearly in the Rays’ dugout as he backed up a potential throw to third base, raised his glove to Isbel in center before retaking the mound and finishing a five-out save.

“One of the most amazing catches I’ve seen,” McArthur said. He’s one of the best outfielders in the game. I knew he had a chance on it because he’s such a good outfielder, but to watch it happen, that was incredible.”

The Royals were up by two runs at that point -- thanks to Salvador Perez’s two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning -- so there was some wiggle room if Isbel hadn’t secured the catch. But Walls, a fast runner, likely would have been the tying run on third base, so the momentum would have surely swung in the Rays’ favor.

Isbel made sure it stayed on Kansas City’s side.

“Izzy’s fearless,” Quatraro said. “We’ve seen him make a ton of great plays. Maybe not that great, but the fearlessness, understanding the situation, knowing that was probably the game right there. Not only the athleticism but the concentration to be able to hold onto that ball as he hit the ground. … Not too many people are going to make that catch.”

“Izzy does Izzy things,” added a grinning Witt, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, RBI and run scored Wednesday. “That was incredible.”

Isbel has made some tough plays out in center before, but he was even surprised he hung onto the ball because of how hard he hit the wall.

"I kind of looked around a little bit because I knew it was on the very end of my glove and I wasn’t sure if it was in there or not,” Isbel said. “Luckily, it [was].”

The catch was a momentous ending to a good win for the Royals, who evened the series against the Rays ahead of Thursday’s finale on the Fourth of July. It helped alleviate the two errors the Royals made earlier on routine plays in the infield, and it helped give Royals starter Michael Wacha his fifth win of the year after he tossed six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts.

Wacha adjusted quickly after a first-inning homer to Isaac Paredes on a two-strike, middle-middle changeup, a pitch Wacha was visibly frustrated with as the ball soared out to left field. He didn’t let it happen again and worked around three walks and two hits to record his sixth quality start of the year.

The righty was in the training room following his outing when Isbel made the catch that everyone was talking about postgame.

“We went crazy in there,” Wacha said. “Game-saver. Huge, huge moment for us.”