BOSTON – Often lost because of the way Jose Bautista can change games at the plate is the way he can change games in the field.

On a quiet day with the bat, the Toronto Blue Jays right-fielder did precisely that in Saturday’s 5-4, 11-inning win over the Boston Red Sox Saturday, stealing a home run from Rusney Castillo in the third inning. Even with his right shoulder still recuperating from the impingement and strain that limited him to DH duties for 30 games, he’s still very capable of making an impact with his glove.

“It’s one of those things that kind of happened,” Bautista said afterwards. “I can’t really explain it, and you can’t prepare for it. I’m happy I did it, I’m glad it helped and prevented a run.”

With the Blue Jays up 3-0, Castillo led off the bottom of the third and rocked a 1-2 knuckler from R.A. Dickey deep to right-centre field. Bautista, who had been playing straight away, made a beeline toward the wall, hit the warning track, took five steps, leaped and snared the ball as his right hip flew into the top of the short fence.

Once the ball was in his glove, he slid down the wall, hanging atop it for a moment before pulling up his glove to show that he’d made the catch. Dickey pumped his fist and pointed out to right field in gratitude.

“I saw the ball hit, had a good jump, kept running, was chasing it down and felt like I had a chance,” said Bautista. “For whatever reason, I timed it perfect. I peeked a few times, but I didn’t know exactly where I was. I took a chance. If I wanted to catch the ball, I had to jump at that moment. It just ended up being perfect where the ball was right there. I kind of held on to the wall when my legs hit, reached over, got it.”

From the route he took to the ball to the timing of his jump, everything was perfect.

“I can tell you right now it was not deliberate,” said Bautista. “I was reacting to the ball being hit, chasing the ball and I can’t tell you I knew exactly where the ball was when I jumped. It happened to be at the right place and the right time, and perfectly placed.”

The way Bautista went into the wall, which is padded, also allowed him to protect his body, although he said he felt “a little discomfort” in his troubled right shoulder while clinging to the wall.

Despite that, he’s played 11 straight games in right field, and while he can’t control the running game the way he usually does with his throwing, he’s been able to make it work.

“I’ve gotten lucky,” he said. “I haven’t had a need to throw out the losing run or the game-tying run at the plate. Hopefully it continues to be that way. I just don’t feel like I can 100 percent let it go yet, but my arm is well enough that I can make most throws. And every day’s a progression and every day’s better. Those days off really helped with the healing process.”