MINNEAPOLIS– The White Sox had actually the bases packed with none out against Twins left-hander Rich Hill in Monday nights 8-5 Chicago victory, and Danny Mendick struck a line drive. And after that … something happened.
Second baseman Luis Arraez had the liner hit off the heel of his glove, and
MINNEAPOLIS– The White Sox had actually the bases packed with none out against Twins left-hander Rich Hill in Monday nights 8-5 Chicago triumph, and Danny Mendick struck a line drive. And after that … something took place.
2nd baseman Luis Arraez had the liner hit off the heel of his glove, and it dropped to the dirt. He tossed it to Jorge Polanco, who was covering second base. Polanco communicated it to first base, where Miguel Sanó tagged the runner pulling back from second back to initially. The ball returned to Polanco, who tossed a one-hopper to home plate after much deliberation with Arraez and Hill. All of the baserunners, basically, sat tight.
Got all that?
Had the Twins turned 3, they would have escaped the inning with a 4-0 lead undamaged– and an odd piece of history in the boxscore, to boot. Instead, Adam Engel hit a two-run single, Chicago chased Hill, and a 4-6 putout will go down innocently in the boxscore for all however those who decide to take a closer look.
Instead, when Arraez threw the ball to second, the Twins dislodged Luis Robert, the runner who had been standing at very first base, and when Polanco tossed the ball to first base, Robert was in fact tagged out again– even though he was already out. At that point, Mendick was currently securely in the beginning base, and runners Edwin Encarnación and James McCann had sat tight at 2nd and 3rd, respectively, removing the possibility for any other outs.
Do-Hyoung Park covers the Twins for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @dohyoungpark and on Instagram at dohyoung.park.
If Arraez had actually at first thrown the ball to house plate after he dropped the line drive, the Twins may have started an uncommon 4-2-5-6 triple play, or something of the sort, with runners being required out at house, second and 3rd, in that order, given that none were running hard to the next base amid the confusion.
What precisely did it mean? Well, the Twins defense sure didnt understand in the minute, and neither did the umpires, who immediately congregated for a prolonged conference. In the end, what could have– and arguably need to have– been a triple play became one of the more disorderly 4-6 forceouts youll ever see, promoted upon replay evaluation.
Had the Twins turned 3 that way, they would have signed up with some extremely uncommon business. The only 4-2-5-6 triple play in baseball history was turned in 1893, when the Brooklyn Grooms achieved the task versus the Baltimore Orioles, who, at the time, were in the National League.
2nd baseman Luis Arraez had the liner hit off the heel of his glove, and it dropped to the dirt. He tossed it to Jorge Polanco, who was covering second base. Polanco communicated it to very first base, where Miguel Sanó tagged the runner pulling away from 2nd back to. Well, the Twins defense sure didnt understand in the minute, and neither did the umpires, who right away gathered together for a prolonged conference.
