Watch: Heyward comes up big for Cardinals with home run-stealing catch
The St. Louis Cardinals had a tough time at Great American Ball Park this weekend, but managed to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday thanks to a 9-2 victory.
Earlier in the series, Cardinals right fielder Jason Heyward came close to making a pair of home run-robbing catches, but fell just short.
He had better results on Sunday, however: in the sixth inning, Heyward made a spectacular catch at the wall to deny Ivan De Jesus:
J-Hey doing Gold Glove things for the #STLCards. pic.twitter.com/E9h1WkNkjv
— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) September 13, 2015
After the game, manager Mike Matheny raved about the play while speaking with MLB.com's Jennifer Langosch: "That was a huge point of the game for us. He's such a great outfielder and always takes so much pride in what he does defensively."
At the time of the catch, the Cardinals were protecting a 4-2 lead that they eventually expanded in the ninth inning.
"I got there early enough that I found the wall and gave myself space," Heyward told Langosch regarding his catch and the importance of the play, adding, "At that point in time, we needed to keep them from scoring another run and get some momentum."
It was definitely a big moment in the game and helped the Cardinals snap their recent funk.