CINCINNATI -- Usually a shortstop, Elly De La Cruz served as the Reds' designated hitter on Sunday.
He also displayed his avian trapping and fowling skills.
As the Brewers' Jackson Chourio batted in the top of the fourth inning at Great American Ball Park, a bird parked on the infield grass in Reds starting pitcher Brady Singer's line of vision.
Timeout was called, and the seemingly injured bird was surrounded by Singer, umpire Chris Guccione and a Reds bat boy, but the bird struggled to take flight. The bat boy made an ill-fated attempt to shoo the bird off the field with his helmet. Fortunately for the bird's safety, he whiffed. Singer was also about to try to get rid of the bird with his glove.
Suddenly, De La Cruz emerged from the dugout and like the shortstop he is, took command of the situation like on a routine pop-up. He called off Singer and the bat boy before he managed to scoop up the bird in his batting glove-covered hands and took it off the field.
De La Cruz received some applause and was seen laughing in the dugout as play resumed. Hopefully for his health and safety, he got some disinfectant for his batting gloves and hands, too.
Later in the fourth inning came a more satisfying moment, when De La Cruz slugged his 23rd home run of the season, a two-run drive to right-center field that gave Cincinnati a 6-3 lead over Milwaukee.