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The Orioles don’t get to play the Orioles very often, so it’s not every day that you get to see teammates competing against one another, like, say, Manny Machado hitting a fly ball in the direction of Adam Jones.
That’s exactly what happened late Saturday night/early Sunday morning in the seventh inning of a must-win World Baseball Classic game between the USA and the Dominican Republic. With the USA leading 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Machado put a charge into a ball that was heading for the center field seats in Jones’s hometown of San Diego.
Jones, well, you just need to see this for yourself:
The Dominican Republic could have had 2 homers in the 7th, if it wasn't for hometown hero @SimplyAJ10! #UnitedWeGrind pic.twitter.com/GAGffpEqgk
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 19, 2017
That’s about as good of a catch as you’re going to see in the outfield right there, and everyone on the field knew it, including pitcher Tyler Clippard, whose “OH MY GOD!” reaction really says it all. There’s also Machado saluting his teammate:
Jonesy robs it. Clippard can't believe it. Manny loves it. Wow. pic.twitter.com/R7MRImSPc1
— Connor Newcomb (@ConnorNewcomb_) March 19, 2017
The seats at Oriole Park at Camden Yards aren’t so close to Jones territory, so it’s not even something you could really see him do in a home game in the regular season. Plus, the fences aren’t so short in Baltimore.
But this freeze frame is, as the Twitter guy says, art:
This is art. pic.twitter.com/xTXMt5O34F
— Jon Tayler (@JATayler) March 19, 2017
My favorite is the guy whose complete shock at what has just unfolded right in front of him, but it’s a lot like that GIF of Chris Davis striking out Adrian Gonzalez in that every time you look at it, there’s someone new and amazing you notice that you didn’t see before.