The Minnesota Twins had a historic triple-play on Monday — one that aptly summed up the misery their opponents, the Chicago White Sox, have experienced this season.
At the bottom of the seventh inning and the match tied at 2-2, Chicago had two contestants (Yuan Moncada) and second (Adam Engel) with no one out of the bout as AJ Bullock reached the plate. Bullock got on the pitch and put it into the right midfield, the kick looked like extra rules at least, but Byron Buxton ran it down and made an excellent catch on the wall.
However, the runners didn’t seem to think the hunt was possible, as both of them immediately sped off at the crack of the bat and didn’t stop. So, when the catch was done, Engel was well past third, and Moncada was not far behind.
Buxton then tossed the ball to Gio Orchila, who flagged Moncada as he tried to run to first, then climbed into second to force Engel out. Triple play.
And not any triple – 8-5 triple game, the first of its kind In the history of MLB.
It was a great hitch and a great throw from Buxton, but the play was definitely more difficult at the end of the White Sox than it was at the end of the Twins. Neither Engel nor Moncada had the foresight to consider the possibility of catching the ball, or that Minnesota has one of the most athletic quarterbacks in the league. As a result, both of them were significantly out of position and didn’t have a chance to tag them.
It’s just another issue in a long list of struggles for the White Sox, who struggled to break the record 38-40 under Tony La Russa despite entering the season as a world championship contender. La Rosa was under the microscope for his managerial performance, with another notable incident occurring when he decided to Deliberate Walking Dodgers star Tria Turner With two hits per count.
The White Sox lost Monday’s game in overtime innings, 6-3, and fell to 5.5 games behind the twins in the AL Central standings. They are four games behind Rays in third.
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