Nathan Church steals another homer, this time giving the Cardinals a win over the Pirates
Nathan Church is making a habit of stealing home runs. The rookie left fielder's latest saved the game for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Church ended a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates by robbing Nick Gonzales of what would have been a walk-off, two-run homer by making a leaping catch at the left-field wall Wednesday night.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nathan Church is making a habit of stealing home runs. The rookie left fielder's latest saved the game for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Church ended a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates by robbing Nick Gonzales of what would have been a walk-off, two-run homer by making a leaping catch at the left-field wall Wednesday night. Just four days earlier, Church took a potential tying homer away from Seattle's Mitch Garver in the sixth inning. The 25-year-old also had his first career two-homer game in that 11-9 loss to the Mariners.
On opening day, Church made a dazzling catch at the top of the wall against Tampa Bay's Ryan Vilade. A homer then also would have tied the game. Gonzales’ drive above the top of the 6-foot wall — 373 feet from home plate — would have been a home run in 27 of the 30 big league ballparks, according to MLB Statcast, all but PNC Park, Baltimore's Camden Yards and Texas' Globe Life Field.