CHICAGO -- In a game dominated by home runs, it's often easy to overlook defense, but Ender Inciarte used his glove to turn in one of the biggest plays of Monday's homer-filled makeup game between the Braves and Cubs. The grab helped Atlanta earn a hard-fought 6-5 win.
With Benjamin Zobrist on first base with one out in the sixth and the Braves leading, 6-4, Javier Baez hit a liner to center that seemed like a sure hit. Inciarte, though, raced in and to his left to make a sliding catch for the out. He then bounced up and fired to first to double off Zobrist -- who was still standing near second base -- to complete the inning-ending double play.
"I told him that was good, even for him," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "I've seen him make many of them, but that was just spectacular -- even for a guy with all the gold. A great catch."
Said Cubs manager Joe Maddon: "The guy made a great catch. I think [Zobrist] was confused whether it hit [the grass] or not. ... But again, that's a great play."
According to Statcast™, Inciarte covered 46 feet in 3.2 seconds and converted a catch probability of 11 percent. It was his first 5-star catch of the season.