Tag of the year? It's going to be tough to top this

July 7th, 2019

It's not easy to nail a runner trying to swipe a base when the catcher's throw goes to the wrong side of the bag. Luckily for the Twins, shortstop knows how to improvise.

With one out in the sixth inning and Asdrubal Cabrera at the plate, Joey Gallo, who had reached via a single, broke for second on a 2-2 fastball. Catcher Mitch Garver's throw sailed to the left, but Polanco was able to snatch it out of the air, spin and slam a tag down on Gallo's left hand for the out.

And as an added bonus for the Twins: They appealed to third-base umpire Pat Hoberg, who said Cabrera swung on the play, making it an inning-ending strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out.

“I wasn’t even sure what actually played out," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. "My eyes kind of played tricks on me on that one, but it was a nice play. I couldn’t even talk to you about what happened, exactly. I thought we did a good job holding the runner, too, and giving us a chance on a play like that, because there was a lot that played into what eventually happened. It looked like a good baseball play to me. I’ll probably go back and look at it again.”