ARLINGTON -- A former Gold Glove winner, Astros catcher Martín Maldonado is no stranger to bringing strong defense to his position and helping out his pitching staff in the process. Just look at what he did in the fourth inning of Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Rangers.

Maldonado, who won a Gold Glove Award with the Angels in 2017, made a diving catch of a foul tip off the bat of Rangers outfielder Leody Taveras for an out. Taveras tipped a 94 mph four-seam fastball from pitcher Cristian Javier and it glanced off the glove of Maldonado and into the air. Maldonado spun around and made a diving catch behind home plate for the strikeout and third out of the inning.

“Very impressive,” Javier said. “When it hit off his glove, I thought he had lost it there for a moment, then I saw him get up and look up and he made that catch. Very good.”

Maldonado ranks sixth among Major League catchers with 875 games caught, trailing teammate Jason Castro (879) by only four games.