Unafraid of wall, DeShields makes stellar catch
Rangers outfielder robs Oakland's Stephen Piscotty of extra bases in Tuesday's win
ARLINGTON -- Delino DeShields may be struggling at the plate but his defense continues to stand out with a five-star catch Tuesday night in the Rangers' 7-4 victory over the Athletics at Globe Life Park.
Piscotty, batting with a runner at first and one out in the second inning, crushed one to deep center off Rangers starter Matt Moore. DeShields raced back to the warning track, leaped to make the catch and then crashed into the wall.
"I was telling [reliever Jake Diekman], it's like when you play catch with your dog," DeShields said. "You throw it as far as you can and he'll still run and catch it. I was racing to make the play, and the wall was coming up. It was either stay or make the play. I felt I could make the play."
DeShields' grab had a six percent probability of being an out, per Statcast™. DeShields made the catch by covering 85 feet in five seconds.
"That ball was probably the loudest one I've heard all year," Moore said. "I honestly thought it was just a home run off the bat. I didn't even look until the very end. He's been doing that all year for me."
The scary part was DeShields hitting the wall.
"Wasn't real sure if [DeShields] was going to get up after that one," Banister said. "What a catch by DeShields."
DeShields contributed offensively, too. He came up with one out in the seventh inning with the Rangers trailing 4-2 and tried to bunt his way on base. He popped the bunt up but it fell between pitcher Yusmeiro Petit and third baseman Matt Chapman for a single. He ended up scoring on Shin-Soo Choo's home run.