Pirates turn first 4-5-4 triple play in MLB history
4-5-4
Those weren’t Saturday’s winning lottery numbers, though if you’re a Pittsburgh Pirates fan and you’re feeling lucky, they might be good numbers to play in the future.
The numbers actually represent one of the strangest plays you’ll ever see on a baseball field. During Saturday night’s 7-5 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pirates turned the very first 4-5-4 triple play in MLB history.
That’s second baseman to third baseman back to second baseman for those unfamiliar with baseball’s scoring procedures.
It happened in the second inning with St. Louis threatening to get on the scoreboard. Jhonny Peralta was on third after leading off the inning with a walk and Jason Heyward was on second after hitting a double. There were no outs, obviously, when Yadier Molina stepped in and took a hack at the first offering from Vance Worley.
The result was a line drive at second baseman Neil Walker, who was forced to jump to make the grab. Clearly, the Cardinals base runners underestimated Walker’s athleticism, because they kept moving despite the possibility of a catch. When Walker came down, he quickly realized he had a shot at a double play at least. However, as he took off toward second base, he quickly realized he had a shot for more with Peralta off third base.
After firing to third and getting Peralta, things actually took a somewhat comical turn.
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Third baseman Jung Ho Kang either lost track of outs, or thought Walker already tapped second base. His first move was to run off the field, but his teammates were able to get his attention in plenty of time to make the return throw to Walker.
Perhaps it wasn’t as smooth or easy as 1-2-3, but what would you expect from 4-5-4?
The triple play is actually the second turned by the Pirates in the last calendar year. Walker, of course, was involved in both. The other came on Sept. 14 of last year, when they turned a more conventional 5-4-3 triple play around the horn, Josh Harrison to Walker to Andrew Lambo.
Prior to that, it had been 35 years since Pittsburgh turned a triple play. The Cardinals hadn’t hit into one since 2003.
Pittsburgh rallied to win the game with three runs in the sixth. Neil Walker contributed a solo homer in the fifth.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
