Twins catcher Christian Vazquez learned the lesson of “pay attention in the on-deck circle” the hard way on Wednesday afternoon
Vazquez, 32, was struck in the helmet with a line drive foul ball off the bat of teammate Donovan Solano while taking his warm-up swings during the third inning of their game against the Tigers at Target Field.
Vazquez had mere milliseconds to react to the oddly hit ball.
Luckily for him, the ball ricocheted off the brim of his helmet, less than an inch away from his face, in what could have been an ugly incident.
“He better go buy a Powerball ticket,” Twins analyst Justin Morneau quipped.
Those on the field and in the crowd appeared to be in shock for a few seconds, but Vazquez quickly recovered.
The backstop seemed to be in good spirits within moments and stayed in the game.
He then flew out to right field one batter later and caught the rest of the game for Minnesota.
The Twins led 4-3 at the time of the episode but ended up on the losing side, 8-7.
Minnesota now sits at 63-59, four games up on the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central.
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