The Mets produced an early-season candidate for the best defensive performance in a single inning during Tuesday night’s win over the Diamondbacks.
Lefty starter David Peterson was treated to a sparkling display of defense in the top of the fourth inning at Citi Field, as New York flashed the leather with three consecutive outs that were all Web Gem worthy, as Mark Vientos, Francisco Lindor, and Tyrone Taylor teamed up to produce an inning for the ages.
It began with a hard grounder laced to third base by Randal Grichuk, who was robbed after Mark Vientos made a full extension dive to try and snag the hard grounder, but it glanced off his glove into the lap of Lindor at shortstop. The Gold Glover quickly snagged the richochet and fired to first for the out, robbing Grichuk of a leadoff single.
Peterson was in disbelief, and that would only grow after he allowed a screamer into the gap off the bat of Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but the D-Backs slugger was robbed by Taylor, who took a perfect route to the ball in left center before sprawling out for a diving catch to take away a certain extra-base hit.
The inning fittingly ended with another fantastic play, as Eugenio Suarez banged another hard grounder in the shortstop hole, where Lindor made a nifty backhand snag to nab a high shorthop and fire a perfect throw to Alonso to complete a memorable inning that highlighted an 8-3 win.