Rays’ Simpson crashes face-first into the wall but holds an incredible catch in World Series Game 3
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers met in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. Rays left fielder Chandler Simpson drew attention early in the game with an incredible catch.
Brewers batter Sal Frelick hit a sharp liner towards left field. The ball looked as if it might go over Simpson’s head or even become a home run, and if the catch had not been made it could have caromed off the wall back towards centre field.
Simpson ran at full speed, made a leaping grab and crashed face-first into the wall. He hung on to the ball despite the crash and got it back to the infield quickly, before Garrett Mitchell could advance to second base.
The catch saved Tampa Bay a run, and it also stopped Milwaukee from taking the momentum early in the game.
The second-year outfielder had been 3-for-8 in the series before this game, with an RBI and two strikeouts.
The Rays came into this game trailing the series 2–0. The Brewers had won Game 1 by 3–2 and Game 2 by 5–4, and both games were extremely close.
Milwaukee and Tampa Bay were two of the best teams in baseball all year. Each came into the series as the No. 1 seed in the postseason, having earned byes into their respective Division Series.
