AJ Pollock has put together an impressive season but he was the brunt of jokes over the weekend when failing to make a play on what appeared to a catchable fly ball to left-center field off the bat of New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the game, which made Pollock crashing into the wall before he could make a leaping attempt a lighthearted moment. Three nights later, the veteran outfielder got another opportunity and made the most of it in left field at Petco Park.
With the Dodgers holding a slim 1-0 lead, Manny Machado lifted a drive that Pollock went back on to make a leaping catch and rob the the Padres’ All-Star third baseman of a go-ahead home run.
“Honestly, I was thinking about my last time I tried to rob a homer and embarrassed myself,” Pollock said after the Dodgers’ 5-2 win. “I kind of saw it was carrying a little bit, got near the wall and I just didn’t want to jump late like I did last time and run into the wall.
“The timing was right and I was able to make the grab. … That’s kind of me just saying, ‘Don’t embarrass yourself like last time.’ The ball is right there, and you run into the wall when you’re about to jump, you look very unathletic. It’s just a mental thing.
“I wanted to make sure I got the jump off. Sometimes you don’t know quite where you are on the field, and that’s what happened last time. I thought I had another step, and I didn’t. I speared the wall on my way up and looked stupid. Just kind of made that little adjustment.”
Pollock’s play not only preserved the Dodgers’ lead but kept Urias’ no-hitter intact for the time being. He wound up allowing one hit and issuing two walks over five scoreless innings.
Urias lifted his arms in the air upon seeing Pollock come down with the ball and clapped in his glove. But the moment was largely unemotional for Pollock.
“I think earlier in my career I would’ve had a lot of adrenaline. Now there’s not as much adrenaline,” he said. “It kind of like is what it is. I think you’re just in the moment and out there trying to make a play for your team.
“You don’t have too many opportunities like that where you have a catchable ball over the fence that you can make a play on. So it is cool when the steps are right, the timing’s right and you’re able to make that play for your teammate.”
Pollock recalls robbing home runs
Although he could not definitively say, Pollock estimated he has robbed a home run two or three times in his career.
“Honestly, I feel like there’s been a lot of times where I’m so mad at myself because you feel the ball is right there to make a play on and you just don’t quite do it. It’s tough,” he said.
“You’ve got to make the right steps and some things have to line up. Some guys are really, really good at it and looks like they’re going to make it every single time. That might have been my third one. They’re fun.
“You get to do it for your teammate and guy on the mound that’s working hard. It’s a good feeling, for sure.”
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