Mike Tauchman robs Albert Pujols of walk-off home run with the Catch of the Year (Video)

San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Tauchman made the catch of the year to rob Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Albert Pujols of a would-be walk-off home run.

Albert Pujols thought he delivered the Los Angeles Dodgers a walk-off home run in front of the home crowd. Too bad San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Tauchman thought otherwise.

With the game between bitter NL West rivals all tied up at five in the bottom of the night, Pujols connected on one that had a shot to clear the left-center field fence at Dodger Stadium. Tauchman perfectly timed his leap and was able to snag this near game-winner to record out No. 3 in the bottom of the frame. San Francisco would plate three runs in the top of the 10th to win it, 8-5.

Had it not been for Tauchman, Pujols would have been the big hero in Chavez Ravine on Friday.

San Francisco Giants OF Mike Tauchman robs Albert Pujols of a walk-off HR

With this catch and a three-run top of the 10th, the Giants were able to tie the hated Dodgers in the NL West standings at 31-20 on the year entering Saturday afternoon’s game. While both baseball clubs trail the San Diego Padres in the divisional race, these have been three of the best teams in the Senior Circuit this season. Both NL Wild Card teams could come out of this division.

Los Angeles was able to plate three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to at the very least force extra innings. It would have been a total disaster had Tauchman not come up with this spectacular grab. All the momentum in this series would have gone in the home team’s favor. Instead, the Giants ripped victory away out of the jaws of defeat after nearly collapsing in the ninth inning.

We may look back on this play months down the line and realize how impactful of a play it was.