Triple-A Bees sting Tacoma with amazing defensive play

July 24th, 2022

There are 4-6-3 defensive plays -- typically double plays -- and then there’s the craziness Triple-A Salt Lake second baseman Jake Palomaki and shortstop David Fletcher pulled off on Saturday to record just one out.

With no outs and runners on first and second in the top of the fifth, Tacoma’s Trey Amburgey hit a sharp grounder to the left of the second-base bag, where Palomaki -- playing out of position -- made a diving backhanded snag. For a moment, it looked like he had done all he could by keeping the ball in the infield and preventing a run from scoring. But he was just getting started. In the blink of an eye, Palomaki backhanded the ball to Fletcher as the shortstop moved toward first base. Fletcher then spun in midair and snagged it -- with his bare hand -- before turning around and firing a strike across the diamond to get Amburgey for the first out of the inning.

In the process, Palomaki and Fletcher also notched one of the best baseball plays of the year.