MINNESOTA -- The Blue Jays sent out an extremely green lineup on Sunday. Of nine starters, just two had played at least 100 games in the Majors, but being inexperienced doesn¡¯t equate to being unprepared.

That lesson comes courtesy of one of those seven relative newbies, 23-year-old second baseman Leo Jim¨¦nez, who made one of the most daring -- harrowing? -- plays on a foul ball you¡¯ll ever see.

In the fourth inning of Sunday¡¯s 4-3 loss to the Twins at Target Field, Jim¨¦nez traveled 100 feet from his position at second base to track a high pop-up down the right-field line off the bat of Max Kepler. Jim¨¦nez split between first baseman Spencer Horwitz and right fielder Addison Barger and called for the ball. Then Jim¨¦nez managed to snag it at the net before tumbling headfirst into the stands.

Horwitz, who was just in front of the spot where Jim¨¦nez crashed through the net, had the best view of anyone at Target Field.

¡°We were running for it, and I knew we were close to the wall,¡± Horwitz said. ¡°I was like, ¡®I¡¯m gonna go into this wall,¡¯ and then I hear him say, ¡®I got it! I got it!¡¯ So I backed off and he comes flying by me, jumps into the wall, into the net and then the net gave out, because we were right by the door. Barger¡¯s right there and I said, ¡®Grab the ball! Grab the ball!¡¯ because I knew there was a runner on.¡±

Barger pulled the ball out of Jim¨¦nez¡¯s glove and fired it to the plate while Austin Martin tried to score from second on the play. Barger¡¯s throw would¡¯ve nailed Martin, but by rule, the play was dead once Jim¨¦nez left the field with the ball, so Martin was placed on third base.

All the while, team trainers were hustling across the field to check out Jim¨¦nez, who lay on his back between the rows of seats he crashed into.

¡°I see him laying there and he¡¯s very still,¡± Horwitz said of Jim¨¦nez, who was not available for comment after the game. ¡°Then I¡¯m like, ¡®Leo, you¡¯re good! You¡¯re OK -- just stay here, the trainer¡¯s coming!¡±

Blue Jays manager John Schneider joined the training staff in evaluating Jim¨¦nez on the field.

¡°??Just making sure he was OK with his head, that he wasn¡¯t dizzy or anything, making sure he had his feet underneath him,¡± Schneider said. ¡°I love that he stayed in, and I loved the effort he showed.¡±

Of course, the way baseball seems to work, the next batter hit another pop fly that Jim¨¦nez handled, though he barely had to move on that one. Jim¨¦nez even went on to drive in what at the time was a go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning, when he was hit on the elbow by a pitch from Griffin Jax with the bases loaded.

¡°He had a tough day at the yard, for a ribbie and a nice putout there,¡± Schneider said.

The play was emblematic of the exuberance of the Blue Jays¡¯ current youth movement, embodied by players such as Jim¨¦nez, Horwitz, Barger and Will Wagner. Schneider said his players¡¯ youth can be an asset in getting over tough losses like Sunday's.

¡°They¡¯ll get over this,¡± Schneider said. ¡°They¡¯re probably already over it. I hope they are, because it¡¯s a hard-fought game and ¡­ I love the way they went about it. I love the way the veteran guys were there supporting them. They¡¯ll be fine going forward.¡±