OAKLAND -- Xander Bogaerts is going to see Ramón Laureano in his nightmares.
For the second consecutive night, the A's center fielder made an absolutely jaw-dropping throw to retire Bogaerts, this time nailing the Red Sox shortstop at third base with a one-run lead in the ninth inning Tuesday night.
"I'm like, there's no way he'll do that again," a stunned Bogaerts said after the game. "The next time, I won't run."
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
That's probably a good idea. Laureano already has recorded 11 outfield assists in just 56 career games, the most in all of baseball during that span.
"I've thrown balls every day since I was 8 years old," Laureano smiled. "I don't even know how to explain it. I just throw it."
"I'm never betting against Ramón's arm," added Matt Chapman, who made the tag at third base. "He just seems to make incredible throw after incredible throw, and they're all on the money. He never ceases to amaze me."
This one might have been the most incredible of all. With the A's clinging to a 1-0 lead and one out in the ninth, Bogaerts squared up a Blake Treinen delivery and rocketed it off the wall in right-center field. Laureano chased it down, and with a release time of 0.6 seconds, hurled a perfect one-hopper to Chapman to cut down the potential tying run.
Oakland Athletics
"To me, just as impressive as the throw was how quickly he got to it and got rid of it," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "Once it hits off the wall, you've got a really fast runner in Bogaerts. It kicks back toward the infield, and he has to be on it that quickly. All things came together probably like nobody else could do."
Added Laureano: "He hit it pretty hard. The wall got to me pretty quick. I knew I didn't have that ball at the end. Then I was just trying to balance myself against the wall and try to find the ball. Good thing it didn't go that far. I just grabbed it and threw it."
Laureano also credited Chapman on the play for blocking third base and swiping a quick, decisive tag on Bogaerts.
"He did a tremendous job," Laureano said. "Not a lot of third basemen do that stuff, and that's why he's a Platinum and Gold Glove winner."
Added Chapman: "That was the only way we were going to be able to get him, and I know Ramón's arm doesn't need a cut-off."
[RELATED: Inside Laureano's incredible throw to the plate in A’s win]
No, it certainly does not. Sooner or later, teams will learn to stop running on Laureano. Bogaerts appears to have learned his lesson. But for now, the A's hope their opponents keep challenging the young center fielder.
"We've seen three throws from him that I don't know if anybody in the league makes," Melvin said. "Given the situation, that's probably the best throw we've seen him make, even better than the one in Anaheim that he made last year."
Asked to rank his throws, Laureano thought for a second and smiled.
"If we're winning, they all count," he said. "I'm good with that."