A Detroit Tigers rally against the Philadelphia Phillies was choked off Monday night when Philadelphia turned a triple play, aided and abetted by some confused base running.
As a result, the Phillies made the first 1-3-5 triple play in more than 90 years en route to an 8-1 win, according to ESPN.
“That was a pretty cool moment for all of us,” Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper said. “It was like going back to Little League, we were so excited.”
The last 1-3-5 triple play came when the Tigers turned one against the Boston Red Sox on July 11, 1929, the Society for American Baseball Research said.
The third inning did not start auspiciously for Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola, who with none out had rubbers at the corners after a pair of singles.
Detroit outfielder Matt Vierling broke his bat, sending a weak line drive toward Nola, who grabbed the ball for the out.
🚨 TRIPLE PLAY 🚨 pic.twitter.com/eHmPP4ejv6
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 24, 2024
Detroit catcher Carson Kelly had started at the crack of the ball hitting the bat, but was marooned so far off of first base that Nola tossed the ball to Harper for the second out.
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“I realized [what might happen] after I threw it to first,” said Nola, who eventually struck out six and threw seven innings of one-run ball, according to MLB.com.
“It happened so quick. It was pretty cool. I guess it was a good way to get out of the inning,” he said.
Over at third base, Detroit shortstop Zach McKinstry inched down the line at third, then ran like mad for home plate after Nola made his throw.
That was the first 1-3-5 triple play in Major League Baseball since July 11, 1929, according to Baseball Almanac. https://t.co/yZ9n5qxE3b
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) June 24, 2024
“A lot of things [were] flying,” McKinstry said.
“I just kind of took a shuffle, shuffle and went home on it. I don’t want to say I wasn’t sure, but I thought the ball hit the ground,” he said.
Nope.
Then came the realization that instead of scoring Detroit’s first run, he was going to be the third out.
“I just kind of looked at Vierling like, ‘That was a line drive?’” McKinstry said. “And he was like, ‘Yeah.’ So, palm-to-face kind of thing.”
Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs pointed toward third as McKinstry was helping the Phillies make a bit of baseball history. Harper made a lazy toss to third baseman Alec Bohm, and that was the cap to the 1-3-5 triple play.
“I don’t know if it was the bat breaking, but [McKinstry] definitely thought the ball hit the ground,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch told ESPN.
“It wasn’t like he gave up on the play,” Hinch said, according to MLB.
“I mean, he went full speed into home thinking completely that the ball had touched the ground and Nola had spun and thrown to first for some reason. So he misread the play,” he said.
Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said he also had a limited understanding of what his players were doing.
“It’s funny because from where we sit, there’s a glare on that left field fence-wall. You can’t see the ball coming off the bat, so I had no idea where the ball went. And all of a sudden, they were throwing it around, and then they were running off the field,” he said.
