Atlanta Braves center fielder Guillermo Heredia was prepared to run through a wall to beat the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.
Heredia, sprinting straight back on a scorched Jesse Winker line drive in the eighth inning, made the running grab on the warning track to prevent an extra-base hit, then crashed into the center-field fence. Heredia was down for about a minute, checked by trainers, but remained in the game.
The catch loomed large after the next two Reds batters, Nick Castellanos and Tyler Stephenson, hit a pair of singles. The Reds couldn’t drive either of them in after Joey Votto grounded into a double play and they were handed a 3-2 loss at Great American Ball Park in front of 30,231 fans, their biggest crowd of the season.