BOSTON -- As a blooper from the Rays' Adeiny Hechavarria went up into the swirling Fenway Park wind in the second inning on Thursday, it looked like the classic case of a ball that was going to land in no-man's land during the Red Sox's 3-2 win in 12 innings.
Right fielder Mookie Betts had other ideas. With first baseman Hanley Ramirez and second baseman Eduardo Nunez also in pursuit, Betts sprinted in for a five-star catch, according to Statcast™.
Betts had a 14-percent catch probability, but he didn't even need to leave his feet for the fine grab.
This is because he had a sprint speed of 29 ft/second (30 is considered elite) and a near flawless route in which he covered 91 feet in 4.6 seconds.
The catch got lefty David Price out of the inning while stranding Brad Miller, who probably could have advanced from first to third if the ball had dropped.
It was the first five-star catch of the season for Betts, who made two of them last year while also making 14 four-star catches en route to his second straight American League Gold Glove Award.