DETROIT — Former Tiger James McCann played enough at Comerica Park to know better than to expect a home run Tuesday from his 395-foot drive to the depths of right-center, even under the new dimensions. Thanks to a juggling catch from Matt Vierling, the D-backs catcher didn’t even get a hit, and Detroit’s fill-in center fielder got a highlight.
Both McCann and Vierling took off — McCann around the bases, Vierling toward the fence — as McCann’s drive off Tigers reliever Brant Hurter soared through the air. Vierling, the Tigers’ primary center fielder with Parker Meadows on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain, covered 103 feet to track down the ball just in front of the fence, but his job wasn’t done.
Vierling had the ball in his glove, but his momentum sent him crashing into the fence and sent the ball tumbling out of his glove. The ball never hit the fence and never got out of Vierling’s sight; he bounced off the fence and lunged for the ball before it could hit the ground.
McCann was speeding into third before he realized he was the first out of the fourth inning.
It was an outstanding play, and at least the third juggling highlight catch involving the Tigers this season. Red Sox outfielders Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela teamed up to take a home run away from Kerry Carpenter in May, with Abreu keeping the ball in the park and tipping it to Rafaela. A few weeks later, Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler tried to catch a pop-up in foul territory off the bat of White Sox hitter Joshua Palacios and instead tipped it to third baseman Zach McKinstry, who snared it for the out.
