Royals veteran snags ball from rookie's game-winner

Kansas City Royals celebrate a game-winning hit Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

Royals veteran rescues ball from rookie's game-winning hit

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 6/17/23

Bobby Witt Jr. had a cool gesture for one of his teammates on Saturday.

The Kansas City Royals came back from down 8-2 to beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-9. They won the game on a hit to deep center by Samad Taylor, which scored a walk-off run from third.

Taylor was making his MLB debut, so his first career hit was an extra-special one, as it went for the walk-off win. Witt Jr. recognized the importance of the ball and raced out to center field to grab it for his teammate after the celebration ensued.

Samad Taylor’s first Major League hit plus Bobby Witt Jr. running to the wall to retrieve it equals Baseball is tremendous pic.twitter.com/WgkJqeZ7KN

— Dinn Mann (@mooseoutfront) June 17, 2023

Witt talked after the game about recovering Taylor’s ball. He said it was “special” to see Taylor’s performance.

“I first dumped the water on him, and then, I just kind of saw the ball out there. … I might as well go get it. I was afraid someone was going to grab it and throw it in the stands,” Witt said.

That’s some heads-up baseball from Witt.

Witt went 2-for-5 with 4 RBIs in the game, while Taylor had a nice performance beyond just the walk-off hit. He went 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and the big RBI to win the game.

Taylor was batting .304 with 34 stolen bases at Triple-A this season, so he could be up for good now that he has reached the Royals.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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