ANAHEIM -- By all means, Brian Goodwin should have had a home run off of Ariel Jurado in the third inning of Wednesday’s Rangers-Angels series finale at Angel Stadium.

Center fielder Delino DeShields, however, had other ideas.

Rangers pitching did a phenomenal job in a 3-0 win over the Angels, but DeShields’ outstanding catch to rob Goodwin was just as crucial in securing the shutout.

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“That’s gonna be on some highlight reels,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said.

Goodwin came to the plate with one out in the third and no score. With the count 1-2, he got a hold of a high fastball from Jurado, driving it 400 feet to the deepest part of the ballpark. DeShields tracked the ball to the wall, timing his jump just right to reach his glove over to snare it. He twirled as he came back to Earth, having taken away what would have been Goodwin’s 14th home run of the season.

Woodward, along with much of the crowd, wasn’t sure whether the ball was caught initially. That was somewhat by design on DeShields’ part, as he intentionally waited a moment before making it clear he’d made the catch, some friendly teasing for the benefit of his pal, Goodwin.

“I deked him a little bit. That’s my boy,” DeShields said of Goodwin, whom he knows from their days as frequent opponents in the Minor Leagues. “I caught it, and the first thing I did was look at my glove to make sure it was there. And once I saw it, I was like, ‘I’m about to play with him.’”

DeShields pointed at Goodwin and laughed, and Goodwin smiled and pointed right back as he returned to the dugout.

Jurado, who was able to get through six scoreless innings thanks to the play, tipped his cap to his outfielder.

“It was unbelievable,” said Jurado. “It was a good play, man. Very good play.”

The chance to help out Jurado made the catch especially meaningful for DeShields.

“When you got a guy out there who struggled in his last outing, talking with him, he’s a competitor,” said DeShields. “You just wanna give your best effort for your teammates.”

DeShields opted to celebrate his accomplishment in somewhat unusual fashion: by biting the baseball before throwing it back to the infield.

“It’s something that I’ve just kind of been doing, joking around when I make plays,” said DeShields. “I don’t know where it came from, to be honest. I wasn’t even thinking about it. I just thought it was kind of funny, I guess.”

The play loomed large, as the Rangers didn’t get a run until the sixth inning. Though they’d tack on two more for insurance in the eighth on Isiah Kiner-Falefa's double, without DeShields’ catch, the complexion of the game could have been very different.

DeShields has been a defensive asset for the Rangers for some time, and his seven Outs Above Average this season heading into Wednesday were tied for 11th among Major League outfielders, according to Statcast. He’s particularly excelled on balls he’s had to run back for -- his robbery of Goodwin just happens to be one of the most visually stunning examples of that to date.

In DeShields’ opinion, how does it rate among the best plays of his career?

“It’s up there, for sure,” said DeShields.