Austin Riley Made A Ridiculous Over The Shoulder Catch By The Tarp

The Braves and Phillies had to wait three hours to start Game 2 of their NLDS series due to a rain delay, but neither pitcher was phased by the delay, as Kyle Wright and Zack Wheeler both came out throwing near-perfect ball for the first half of the game.

The Braves would finally strike first in the sixth inning with a two-out rally that started with Ronald Acuna Jr. getting hit by a pitch that was followed by a walk and three straight ground ball singles to put them up 3-0.

That was still the score when the eighth inning rolled around, and the Phillies got a man on with one out on a loud single from Jean Segura, hoping to spark a rally. Up next was Bryson Stott who fought off a 1-2 pitch with a pop-up into foul territory that, at first, looked like it’d extend the at bat — that was until Austin Riley ran over and caught it while sliding off the tarp along the edge of the field.

It’s an outrageous catch for a number of reasons, most notably that he runs into the tarp right as he gets the glove on the ball and, very easily, could’ve had it jarred loose.

The other catch by the Braves infield, referenced by John Smoltz as what had been the play of the night before Riley’s catch, came from Dansby Swanson to end the top of the sixth inning, as he chased a fly ball deep into the outfield to make a sliding over the shoulder catch himself.

It was quite the night from the Braves defense, as they flashed the leather all night behind Kyle Wright and the rest of the Braves staff that delivered a gem of a game, holding the Phillies scoreless through eight innings as they looked to even the series at 1-1 leaving Atlanta.