Triple plays are very rare in baseball, and the Texas Rangers pulled off an extremely rare kind of triple play on Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
The Angels led 6-3 in the top of the fourth and were threatening to blow the game open with the bases loaded and — obviously — no outs.
David Fletcher hit a rocket one-hop groundball and third baseman Jurickson Profar made a terrific diving stop. Off the bat, the ball looked like a line drive, and it was tough to tell in real time if the ball bounced before Profar caught it. This led to confusion on the basepaths. The Angels’ Taylor Ward headed back to third base, thinking Profar caught the ball in the air. Profar stepped on third base for a force out, before tagging Ward, and throwing to second base for another force out (the Rangers’ Rougned Odor then went to tag Kole Calhoun, but he’d already gotten the force out to complete the triple play).
Check out the very bizarre play:
You don't see this every day. https://t.co/6MPPS5u5Xo
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) August 17, 2018
That’s the ol’ 5-4 triple play, and the first triple play without retiring the batter since 1912.
According to STATS, Inc. the Rangers triple play marked the first time thst the batter was not retired on a triple play since June 3, 1912. Brooklyn vs. Cincinnati.
— John Blake (@RangerBlake) August 17, 2018
Rangers execute rather casual looking 5-4 triple play involving a bases-loaded force by Profar at 3rd, a tag of a runner who left 3rd and flip to Odor at 2nd. 2nd Triple Play at Globe Life Park.
— Tim Cowlishaw (@TimCowlishaw) August 17, 2018
And it’s only the second triple play at Globe Life Park, with the last one taking place in 2002.
4/14/02 was the only other triple play ever in Globe Life Park. Rangers did it against Seattle then.
— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) August 17, 2018
It also ended up being a crucial play in the game. The Rangers came back to win 8-6.
I’m confused. If it was a one-hop why did that cause a force out on 2nd? After he tagged guy on 3rd couldn’t 2nd base runner advance?
Why does the one-hop matter?
Runner from 3rd: It confused him into making a series of mistakes. He believed it was caught in the air so came back to tag up. Then made a second mistake by stepping off the bag.
Runner from 2nd: Did not make an error, he saw the hop and ran as he must! He was being forced. If it was caught in the air he would have needed to tag up on 2nd before running.
Runner from 1st: Appeared he also was worried about the hop and delayed his run. Might have made 2nd before the forced tag… we’ll never know.