NEW YORK -- Normally, Yoenis Cespedes sticks to sending baseballs flying into the stands.
Wednesday, he was the one flying.
The colorful New York Mets outfielder leaped over the wall down the left-field line at Citi Field, attempting (and failing) to catch an eighth-inning foul ball hit by Miami's Ichiro Suzuki. Cespedes soared over the low fence, crashed into a fan and hit both his knees on one of the seats.
"I was trying to give max effort for the team," he said later, through an interpreter. "I was trying to get the team a win."
The Mets did end up beating the Marlins, 2-1, ending a four-game losing streak. But Cespedes' attempted catch didn't do anything to help, nor did the 0-for-3, three-strikeout day that dropped his early-season batting average to .233.
"It's eight games," Cespedes said, showing no great concern.
He said he wasn't overly concerned about his knees, either.
"I should be OK," he said.
Cespedes said he leaped because he didn't want to run into the low fence and risk an injury.
Cespedes won a Gold Glove for his outfield play last season with the Detroit Tigers, but he has had some notable adventures. He misplayed the first ball hit to him this season, on opening night in Kansas City, and also misplayed a ball against the Royals in Game 1 of the World Series last year, leading to an Alcides Escobar inside-the-park home run on Matt Harvey's first pitch.
This spring, Cespedes didn't reach for a ball that was below the padding on an outfield fence, leading to an inside-the-park home run for A.J. Reed of the Houston Astros.
Wednesday, Cespedes' leap made for an interesting visual, but ended up having no effect on the game. Suzuki hit another fly ball to left, this one fair, and Cespedes caught it for the first out of the eighth inning.
