Tatis leaps over the wall to rob Vientos of a homer in Padres’ 7-6 win

Fernando Tatis Jr. timed his run to the wall, leaped, and pulled back Mark Vientos’s deep fly ball.

He reached over the right-field wall at Petco Park on Monday night to take away a two-run home run that nearly cleared the padded area behind the fence, keeping the game tied.

Tatis bobbled the ball trying to transfer it, but umpires ruled the catch clean. "I probably got a little bit excited," he said.

"It was good timing -- and being blessed by the gods," Tatis said. "I got to the wall, then I slowed myself down to make sure I've got everything I could, then I jumped."

Vientos had connected hard. "I thought I had it. I put a good swing on it. Obviously, he caught it and made a heck of a play."

The 2023 Platinum Glove winner, rated 8 outs above average in the outfield this season per Statcast, wasn’t finished. An inning later Vientos hit a go-ahead grand slam. The Padres rallied from that four-run deficit with five runs of their own, then Tatis slid to rob Ronny Mauricio of a bloop hit.

Mauricio tied it again with a ninth-inning homer. Elias Díaz walked it off with a two-out, two-strike RBI single as the Padres beat the Mets 7-6.

"It was one of the best baseball games this year," Tatis said afterward. Manager Mike Shildt said, "It's a good time to be in this league. There's some real, real amazing talent on display every night. He just made two of the best plays you're going to see."

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