There was a collective gasp at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon.
Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a 104.7 mph line drive directly back up the box, right at Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd's head.
But somehow, Boyd not only got his noggin out of the way. He stuck out his glove and snatched the baseball for the third out of the fifth inning.
It's tough to make a better catch, at least on a play such as this one.
MATTHEW BOYD GLOVES THE COMEBACKER pic.twitter.com/yZ0cyElUnV
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 20, 2025
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The best part of that clip: The man at the end of it is Kurt Boyd, Matthew's father. And he's clearly fired up.
It's quite the full circle moment for Boyd. He was a Mariners fan growing up in Washington state.
Now, he's one of MLB's most effective veteran pitchers, and he gets to match up with Seattle in Wrigley Field.
It wasn't a perfect afternoon for Boyd, who had some of his fun spoiled by superstar Cal Raleigh.
But it was inches away from being so much worse. And instead, Boyd made the best, and most important, catch of his life.
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