Francisco Lindor, Chris Iannetta avoid collision, share a moment

Home plate collisions are scary. The rule that MLB instituted in 2014 (and subsequently clarified later that year due to widespread confusion) helped to cut down the number of home plate collisions, but they can still happen. That’s why it was a relief that one was avoided during the Cleveland Indians-Seattle Mariners game on Thursday. And the players involved seemed pretty happy about it, too.

It was the top of the fifth inning, and Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez was at the plate with Mariners reliever Mike Montgomery on the mound. The bases were loaded with Cleveland players: Carlos Santana was on third, Francisco Lindor was on second, and Mike Napoli was on first. Montgomery delivered the 1-2 pitch to Ramirez, which Ramirez promptly delivered to right field for a single.

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But waiting in right field was Nelson Cruz. Cruz grabbed the ball on a bounce and hurled it toward home plate. He couldn’t stop Santana from scoring, but the ball made it to catcher Chris Iannetta way before Lindor did. It could have been ugly if Lindor had continued barreling down the third base line, but once he saw that Iannetta had the ball, he slowed up as much as he could.

They did run into each other, but it was more of high-velocity hug than anything harmful. And once Lindor had come to a complete stop, he patted Iannetta on the arm, and Iannetta did the same. They exchanged smiles and laughs, obviously relieved that they weren’t both writhing on the ground in pain, and then went their separate ways.