Catch of the year? Hamilton’s homer-saving grab in St. Louis amazes Reds

Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton fields a ball against the Cardinals on Sunday, June 10, 2018, at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. David Jablonski/Staf

Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton fields a ball against the Cardinals on Sunday, June 10, 2018, at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. David Jablonski/Staf

Billy Hamilton stole the headlines from the Cincinnati Reds offense on Friday night in St. Louis with one of the best catches of the season.

Hamilton climbed the wall in center field to rob the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter of a home run for the final out of the seventh inning. The Reds (42-52) already led 8-1 at that point and won 9-1, but the spectacular play will be long remembered.

Amir Garrett, who was pitching in the seventh, could only marvel at the play on the mound and later on Twitter.

“This isn’t real,” Garrett wrote. “(Billy Hamilton) you spider man or something? Wow. #SaveUsBilly”

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Even Reds minor leaguers had to comment:

“I’ve watched this on replay for the past 10 minutes,” Tyler Stephenson wrote.

“A pitcher’s best friend,” Hunter Greene wrote.

According to ESPN, it’s the third time in his career Hamilton has robbed a batter of a home run. The last two have come against Matt Carpenter at Busch Stadium.

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Carpenter told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he wished Hamilton played second base.

“That was a pretty remarkable catch,” said Carpenter. “It was a great play, no doubt about it. Any time I hit a ball in his direction, I don’t feel good about it.”

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