Christian Vazquez is known for throwing runners out at second and turning himself into an offensive threat at the plate.
But the Boston Red Sox catcher had a different kind of assist Wednesday night against the New York Mets.
A scary scene unfolded when Francisco Lindor hit a foul ball that hit home plate umpire Jerry Layne right in the mask. Vazquez immediately stood up and held him before Lindor stepped in to help. Layne clearly was shaken up and eventually walked off the field and left the game.
It was quick thinking by the catcher, and had he and Lindor not been able to hold Layne up, it’s likely he would have fallen to the ground with how unsteady he looked after it happened.
After Boston’s 1-0 win, Vazquez revealed what Layne told him upon impact.
“He told me, ‘I’m dizzy man,'” Vazquez told reporters. “It was scary.”
Thankfully Layne appeared to be smiling and laughing in the Mets’ dugout after getting checked out. Still, things could have been much worse had Lindor and Vazquez not been there for (literal) support.
