Andrew Benintendi's fly ball had the shape of a two-run homer. Brandon Nimmo met it at the wall.
With two outs in the bottom of the first at Rate Field, Texas already up 2-0, Nimmo leaped in right field and caught the ball to end the inning. The Associated Press, ESPN, and CBS Sports all named the robbery as the play that held the lead at 2-0.
MLB.com's game story said Nimmo traveled 57 feet to make the catch and that the ball would have been a home run in eight parks. MLB's video of the play lists a 96.4 mph exit velocity, a 27-degree launch angle, and a projected distance of 353 feet on a 93.1 mph sinker from Kumar Rocker.
What the catch held in place
Chicago had already put a runner on. CBS Sports' play-by-play shows Steven Antonacci lining out, Munetaka Murakami striking out, and Miguel Vargas singling to center before Benintendi's fly. A homer there ties the game. Instead Rocker finished 5.2 innings with two runs, five hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts, and Texas went on to an 11-2 win.
The 2-0 lead Nimmo protected had been built in the top of the first. Joc Pederson walked, Wyatt Langford walked, and Nimmo was hit by a pitch from Jose Urquidy, loading the bases, ESPN's pitching notes and CBS play-by-play both show. Ezequiel Duran forced Pederson in. Evan Carter doubled Langford home. Burger then walked. Elias Diaz popped out to first.
Nimmo did the rest of his work without a hit. CBS Sports lists him 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout in right field and, after the game, .260/.326/.416. He walked in the second with Seager on third and Langford on second, and Duran's infield single made it 3-0. Nimmo made outs in each of his last four trips.
Tristan Peters later hit a two-out, two-run homer in the second that cut it to 3-2. Rocker had already been spared a two-run swing in the first. After Peters' homer, Chicago did not score.
Robby Ahlstrom retired the four hitters he faced, the AP wrote, and Jordan Montgomery threw two innings without a baserunner. The Rangers' 11 runs came on 14 hits with no errors, ESPN's line score shows.
