Fernando Tatis Jr. leaped at full extension for a jaw-dropping catch.
Human highlight reel Fernando Tatis Jr. was at it again on Friday night.
At the top of the eighth inning, the San Diego Padres shortstop went full stretch to preserve his team’s shut out, making an incredible diving catch.
If you haven’t seen it already, get ready to hit replay a few times. It’s spectacular.
Fernando Tatis Jr. full extension 😱 pic.twitter.com/qOhr4fOL3U
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 3, 2020
In case you were wondering if he actually pulled that catch off, he did. The Padres have the proof.
Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres put away the Cardinals
Tatis’ catch was one of the highlights of the night for the Padres, but the best feeling will have been finishing out the Wild Card series against the Cardinals.
San Diego put itself in danger when it lost Game 1 on Wednesday, 7-4. The Padres turned it up on Thursday and hit five home runs, including two from Tatis, to outpace St. Louis, 11-9.
The decisive game on Friday was a more straightforward victory. Eric Hosmer drove in Tatis in the bottom of the fifth before the seventh inning produced two more runs.
That’s when Tatis’ defense came into play. He grabbed the out and sent the Padres into the bottom of the eighth, where Jake Cornenworth put the finishing touches on the 4-0 victory with a home run.
The Padres have got to be feeling good about the performance of their 21-year-old star early in these playoffs. He hit two home runs in Game 2, hit and scored in Game 3, scared the Cardinals enough for them to walk him twice and delivered an outstanding defensive play on top of it all.
The next time we’ll see Fernando Tatis Jr. is in a tasty NLDS matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers.