.@WayneTwentyOcho didn’t buy a ticket, but still made his way to the front row. 😮 pic.twitter.com/X65dJCOurS
— Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 2, 2017
Sept. 2 (UPI) -- First baseman Steve Pearce ended up in the seats while making a great catch in the Toronto Blue Jays' extra inning loss ot the Baltimore Orioles.
The score was 0-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning when Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop stepped up to the plate to face Blue Jays righty Tom Koehler.
Schoop worked the count to 1-2 before fouling off three consecutive pitches. He sliced Koehler's seventh offering toward the stands, in foul territory near first base. Pearce immediately gave chase.
The 5-foot-11 first baseman measured the flying ball before reaching the wall. He then jumped into the sea of fans and snagged it with his left hand.
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"Timing the ball," Pearce told MLB.com. "It was up and fading. I was able to get to my spot early and time it, that's really it. Just finding it and being able to time it. I got a good read on it."
Pearce, 34, was making just his third start of the season at third base in the absence of Justin Smoak.
The game carried into extra innings after the catch, before Pearce was on the other end of a great defensive play.
Pearce stepped up to the plate on the 13th inning with the go-ahead run on second base and two outs. He ripped Jimmy Yacabonis' 95 mph fastball toward left field. But Trey Macini stepped back and made a sweet catch over his shoulder to rob Peace of an RBI hit and keep the game scoreless.
Schoop also got his revenge.
He smacked an RBI double in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Orioles a walk-off victory.
Pearce went 1-for-6 while Schoop went 2-for-6 in the contest.
"A lot of good things happened tonight, except the score," Jays manager John Gibbons told the Toronto Star.
