STL Cardinals: Brendan Donovan’s highlight reel catch unsung hero of Tuesday win

DENVER — Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals earned a Gold Glove last season as a utility player. On Tuesday night in Denver, Donovan showed exactly why he earned the hardware.

With the score tied 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth, Colorado Rockies outfielder Yonathan Daza hit a towering fly ball into the left-center gap. At Coors Field and its spacious outfield, a ball normally hit to that part of the park results in a triple. However, Donovan ensured the momentum didn’t shift to the Rockies with one of the must-see highlight reel catches of the early MLB season.

St. Louis Cardinals used defense to spark late-inning momentum against Colorado Rockies

“He ran a long ways. That’s such a far part of the field,” Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado said about the stadium that he called home for eight seasons. “He (Donovan) couldn’t believe how far he was. He thought he was going to hit the wall and he’s still a few feet from it.

“It’s just such a long run, but it was an unbelievable play. If he doesn’t make that play, it’s a guaranteed triple, so it was huge.”

The out was the second of the inning, with Giovanny Gallegos striking out Ezequiel Tovar to end the frame. In the top of the ninth, the Cardinals scored three times to secure a 9-6 decision to avoid their first 3-8 start since 2017.

“It’s just impressive,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of the catch. “We told him he’s going to play left field and he goes out there and shags a couple of balls, then comes up with that play.

“This is a guy that, regardless of what you ask him to do, he just does it. That was a big play.”

For an area of Coors Field that Kris Bryant of the Rockies called “a graveyard” in spring training, Donovan said there wasn’t much to do on the play to try to catch the ball except run.

“It’s so deep out there. I was just running and running and running,” Donovan said. “I was fired up. I think that was a big win for us today.”

While offense will often grab the headlines at Coors Field, the Cardinals used Donovan’s defense and four shutout innings split among three relievers to snap a stretch of six losses in seven games.