Triple plays are rare in baseball because of the relative difficulty of pulling off the play. The Pittsburgh Pirates made it look easy on Sunday, though.
The Pirates kept pace as the National League’s second wild-card leader with a 7-3 win over the Chicago Cubs that was helped along by a rally-killing triple play.
Chicago’s Matt Szczur came to the plate in the third inning with the Cubs leading 3-0. Szczur had a chance to extend the lead with runners on first and second. Unfortunately for Szczur and the Cubs, he hit the ball in exactly the wrong spot.
Szcuzur hit it right to Josh Harrison at third base, and the third baseman’s momentum took him right to the bag. Harrison stepped on third and threw to second, and second baseman Neil Walker turned it over with a bullet to first to complete the play.
“You don’t see it very often,” Chicago manager Rick Renteria told reporters after the game, according to The Associated Press. “He hit it right on the nose, and Harrison made a really nice play because he ended up catching it going away from him, stayed with it and it took him right to the bag.”
The triple play was the Pirates’ first since April 12, 2009, and the first time they’ve turned one at home since 1993.
