Did Tatis make his best defensive play EVER to rob grand slam?

NEW YORK -- Of all places, of course Fernando Tatis Jr. did it here.

Where else would he turn in arguably the best game of his big league career? Where else would he turn in perhaps his single most ridiculous home run robbery in an already full catalog?

Where it all began, of course.

Nearly two decades ago, Tatis was a kid living in his father’s first-floor apartment in New York while his dad played for the Mets. The way he retold it last summer, their apartment had a wall that was just a bit taller than he was. So Tatis Jr. did what any 10-year-old kid would do.

That’s where he began perfecting the art of the home run robbery. That’s where he presumably began dreaming of moments like this one.

In the second inning of the Padres’ 5-2 victory over the Mets on Tuesday night -- between hitting a pair of impressive home runs -- Tatis robbed Francisco Lindor of a grand slam with an incredible leaping grab down the right-field line.

Tatis is a two-time Platinum Glove Award winning right fielder and has turned in his share of incredible defensive plays. Home run robberies in particular. But he’s never made a play quite as spectacular as this one.

Tatis ranged to the wall, near the 330-foot sign in the right-field corner. In one motion, he leapt and stretched his glove beyond the fence as his hat went flying. For a brief moment, the stadium went quiet, wondering where, exactly, the baseball had landed.

Tatis paused. Then, he let everyone know. He flipped the ball from his glove hand to his bare hand and held it, capping what will certainly go down as one of the signature plays of his career.

In a vacuum, the play was undeniably spectacular. But the stakes were huge, too. The Padres are fighting for playoff position, and Tatis had already given them a 1-0 lead with his 18th career leadoff home run to open the game. Starter Robbie Ray proceeded to load the bases with two outs in the second.

Tatis ensured that Ray would escape the inning unscathed. From the mound, Ray clearly couldn’t tell whether Tatis had made the play. When Tatis showed the baseball, Ray put his glove on his head and his jaw dropped in disbelief. (In other words, he was all of us.)

Three innings later, Tatis launched an opposite-field homer, giving the Padres a 3-0 lead. Meanwhile, his leadoff homer traveled a Statcast-projected 452 feet, making Tatis the only player in baseball this season with four homers of at least 450 feet. Not bad for a guy who didn’t hit his first home run of the season until May 30.

But even when Tatis was struggling to tap into his power, he was making a difference with his other four tools -- and especially with his glove. Now, he’s reached 15 home runs and has re-established himself as the type of player capable of doing just about anything on a baseball field.

Whether it’s hitting home runs … or robbing them.