This unbelievable catch by Tony Kemp killed a Red Sox rally, but is it too good to be true?
Is this incredible Tony Kemp catch too good to be true?
Kemp, the Houston Astros’ replacement left-fielder for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, made a spectacular leaping catch to rob the Boston Red Sox of a couple runs — and made it look like he plays up against Minute Maid’s Crawford Boxes every day. But Red Sox fans are now wondering if it wasn’t a catch at all and if the umps blew the call.
The catch came in the top of the third inning off the bat of Steve Pearce with runners at first and second base. Watch as Kemp times the catch perfectly, jumps and hang in the air just long enough to catch it right up against that high wall in left field.
If that ball hits off the wall, it may roll around the Houston outfield and allow both runners to score. Not on Kemp’s watch. The Red Sox came out of their dugout — partially in disbelief that he made the catch and partially wondering if the ball hit the wall first.
Red Sox fans wondered the same, and one Twitter sleuth thinks this clip proves that the ball hit the wall first. Another point of debate is the loud noise made during the catch, which some fans say is proof that the ball hit the fence. The announce team on TBS attributed it to Kemp crashing against the wall.
You can clearly see in slow mo that the ball hits the wall first and falls directly into his glove. @MLB missed this one #BOSvsHOU pic.twitter.com/OM7cHCQ2SP
— PeruMissionaryFan🇵🇪 (@RunninRebDHumes) October 16, 2018
Boston challenged the play and nonetheless, it was upheld on review.
What’s also notable about the catch: Kemp isn’t Houston’s everyday left fielder. For Game 4, they made Jose Altuve their DH to save his ailing legs. In doing so, they moved left fielder Marwin González to second base and started Kemp in left.
The Red Sox would go on to win the game 8-2 and take a 2-1 series lead.
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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
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