Venable robs Trout's homer with sensational grab

ANAHEIM -- There was once a time when Will Venable put his 6-foot-3 frame to good use playing basketball at Princeton.

On Tuesday, though, the Padres' center fielder used it to make an over-the-fence catch, robbing the Angels' Mike Trout of a two-run home run in the third inning. That catch loomed big, as the game remained scoreless until the 10th inning when the Padres plated got four runs for a 4-0 victory over the Angels.

Statcast™ clocked Venable's top speed at 17.671 mph, and his route efficiency at 92.69 percent -- though that number likely took a hit because Venable had to adjust to time his leap. Venable covered slightly more than 84 feet with his mad dash to the center field wall.

"He [Trout] hit the ball well. I had to turn and go, I got back there and fortunately it was in my reach," Venable said.

Now Trout, who also plays center field and has made a few of those of catches, knows how the other half lives.

With one out and Erick Aybar on first base after a single, Trout jumped on a 1-2 fastball from Padres pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne, sending it to the deepest part of Angel Stadium.

Statcast™ had the ball exiting the bat at 101 mph, traveling an estimated distance of 409 feet. That, apparently, made no matter to Venable, who turned and ran toward the fence on contact, located the ball and then timed his leap, glove extended above the wall.

"It's just a feel thing," Venable said of knowing where the wall was. "[It's] doing work in BP [batting practice], getting comfortable with the angle of the wall. But really, it's turn and go get it."

Whatever it was, teammate Matt Kemp said, he loved it.

"It was an amazing catch," said Kemp, who had a three-run double in the 10th inning to break a scoreless tie. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen [when the ball was hit]. That was big for us."