Yankees turn a triple play you've never seen before

ByESPN ESPN logo
Friday, June 18, 2021

The New York Yankees have had their issues this season, but they've got at least one thing down -- turning triple plays.

In Thursday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo, the Yankees turned their second triple play of the season, a first in franchise history. It must be said, however, that New York got considerable help from some shoddy baserunning by the Blue Jays on the history-making play.

In the bottom of the first inning, the first two Blue Jays batters reached base, Marcus Semien with a leadoff walk and Bo Bichette on an infield single. They moved up to second and third on a wild pitch by Yankees starter Michael King, setting the stage for one of the oddest triple plays you'll see.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a tapper to the third-base side of the mound. King fielded it and threw to first to get Guerrero -- simple enough. But for some reason, Bichette broke for third with Semien just a few feet up the line.

First baseman DJ LeMahieu threw to second, behind Bichette, and Semien then broke for home. Gleyber Torres threw home, and after a brief rundown, Semien was tagged by third baseman Gio Urshela for the second out. Bichette then tried to sneak into third base, but Urshela spun and threw to Torres covering and Bichette was gone. The Jays challenged the call to no avail. Score it 1-3-6-2-5-6, the first triple play of its kind in baseball history.

The Yankees' first triple play of the season on May 21 was much cleaner and more conventional, an around-the-horn job against the Chicago White Sox that got Aroldis Chapman out of a ninth-inning jam.

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