Nice reflexes! David Price snares comebacker flying toward his head

There was a big sigh of relief Monday night at Rogers Centre when David Price whipped his head out of the way, stuck up his glove and snared a sharply hit line drive that was flying toward his head.

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We’ve seen this end in much, much worse ways, when a comebacker hits a pitcher in the face. It’s brutal. But Price caught the ball and walked around behind the pitchers’ mound afterward, looking both happy and relieved. That big smile on his face? Nothing fake about that. The ball was off the bat of the first hitter that Price faced Monday — New York Yankees’ leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury. It was clocked off the bat at 98.7 mph, per MLB’s Statcast system. That’ll get your blood flowing.

After that, Price was just as impressive the rest of the game. He threw seven innings, allowing just two hits and striking out seven. He was locked in toward the end, retiring the final 14 straight batters he faced. The Blue Jays won the game 4-2, increasing their lead to 3.5 games over the Yankees in the AL East.

[ On this week’s StewPod: Andrew McCutchen on Pirates’ World Series aspirations.]

Price moved to 17-5 on the season with a 2.34 ERA. With the Jays specifically, he’s been even better. He’s 7-1 with a 2.17 ERA in nine starts since coming over at the trade deadline. He’s a guy the Blue Jays want to have around into October — who they need to have around, really. So it’s a good thing his quick reflexes prevented that liner from doing any damage.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz