You gotta see how this foul tip got caught
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Twins starter Joe Ryan was the story on Wednesday night at Progressive Field, taking a perfect-game bid into the seventh inning in Minnesota's 3-0 win. But it was his batterymate who had the play of the game.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth and a 2-2 count on Cleveland pinch-hitter Myles Straw, Twins left-hander Caleb Thielbar delivered a four-seamer that Straw fouled back right at catcher Ryan Jeffers. As the ball popped out of his glove, Jeffers' reflexes kicked in. He promptly reached out with his right arm to make an incredible barehanded snag.
Jeffers tumbled over and popped back up, the ball in his possession and the inning over. The Twins' dugout erupted in cheers, and Jeffers and Thielbar were all smiles.
“Usually, when it hits your glove, it kind of either deflects past you or just deflects somewhere else," Jeffers said after the game. "This one happened where, as soon as it hit my glove, it was just sitting right in front of my face. I just reached out there and grabbed it."
It was by no means a conventional way to catch a foul tip, but it was effective -- and pretty cool to watch, too.