PITTSBURGH — Nathan Church is making a habit of stealing home runs.
The rookie left fielder’s latest saved the game for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Church ended a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates by robbing Nick Gonzales of what would have been a walk-off, two-run homer by making a leaping catch at the left-field wall.
Just four days earlier, Church took a potential tying homer away from Seattle’s Mitch Garver in the sixth inning. The 25-year-old also had his first career two-homer game in that 11-9 loss to the Mariners.
On opening day, Church made a dazzling catch at the top of the wall against Tampa Bay’s Ryan Vilade. A homer that also would have tied the game.
Gonzales’ drive above the top of the 6-foot wall — 373 feet from home plate — would have been a home run in 27 of the 30 big league ballparks, according to MLB Statcast, all but PNC Park, Baltimore’s Camden Yards and Texas’ Globe Life Field.
Reliever Riley O’Brien, who got his eighth save thanks to the grab, held his arms over his head with a stunned look toward left as Church casually jogged away from the wall with the ball in his glove.
Church earned a reputation as an elite defender in the minor leagues as an 11th-round draft pick by the Cardinals in 2022. He’s on his best stretch at the plate, hitting .281 with four homers in the past eight games.
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