Royals’ Joakim Soria made maybe the best catch ever by a pitcher

The Royals that Kansas City fans have come to know and love the past few years reappeared this weekend in a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman Stadium.

All three contests were decided by one run, there was good pitching, timely hitting and the games were fun to watch. On Sunday alone, there were a half-dozen big plays by the Royals that fans likely will be talking about.

Relief pitcher Joakim Soria had perhaps the most unlikely play of all. He made a catch on a popup behind home plate.

Here is the scene: the Royals led 9-7, but the Orioles had two runners on base with two outs and slugger Mark Trumbo at the plate. It was a precarious moment in the game, but Soria got Trumbo to hit the ball in the air.

Catcher Drew Butera apparently didn’t see the ball, but Soria tracked it and he raced past Butera to make the grab by the backstop between home plate and the Orioles dugout. It ended the threat in dramatic fashion.*

*As usual, The Star’s John Sleezer had a great photo of the play, which you can see below

Baltimore got a run in the ninth inning against Kelvin Herrera, but the Royals won 9-8.

This story was originally published May 14, 2017 at 5:10 PM.