Yanks pull off wacky triple play, 1st time with 2 in a year

Updated Jun. 17, 2021 8:24 p.m. ET
Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The New York Yankees pulled off a wacky triple play against Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays on Thursday, marking the first time the storied franchise has recorded two in one year.

The Yankees had their first triple-killing on May 21 against the Chicago White Sox on an around-the-horn play.

This was one was much more unusual.

Yankees pitcher Michael King issued a leadoff walk to Marcus Semien and gave up a single to Bo Bichette in the first inning. A wild pitch put runners on second and third with no outs and Guerrero at the plate.

ADVERTISEMENT

Guerrero hit a tapper to King, who threw to first for the out. First baseman DJ LeMahieu then threw to shortstop Gleyber Torres at second base, with both Toronto runners in limbo.

Torres threw to catcher Gary Sánchez, who tossed to third baseman Gio Urshela for the tag on Semien between third and home. Urshela alertly threw back Torres, who tagged Bichette as he slid into third on a close play that had be reviewed.

The 1-3-6-2-5-6 sequence was the first time that combination was used in any of the 726 triple plays in major league history, per a database maintained by Baseball Almanac.

New York has now turned 26 triple plays in its history, while Toronto has hit into 10 overall.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

share