Sometimes, it's just not your night.
That's how the Tigers had to be feeling after a potential fourth inning rally ended in an instant on Monday thanks to a triple play not seen since 1929.
Already trailing 4-0, Detroit sent Matt Vierling to the plate with runners on first and third base and no outs. It was an opportunity to at least make the game competitive for the home fans after falling behind early, even if that only meant getting one run across.
Sometimes, luck matters even more than skill. Even Aaron Nola would tell you that after the fortune the Phillies had in the fourth inning.
Here's a breakdown of how the Phillies turned an especially rare triple play in Detroit.
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Phillies triple play vs. Tigers
The Tigers' hopes for a rally were thwarted when Nola made a heads-up catch on a broken-bat comebacker by Vierling. The ball didn't exactly rocket back to Nola because of the broken bat, but he still had to adjust quickly — quicker than Zach McKinstry expected.
Nola tossed the ball to first base to get the second out, with Carson Kelly having taken off for second before he could realize what was happening. The third out came even easier. Bryce Harper tossed the ball across the diamond to Alec Bohm at third base after McKinstry ran home on the play.
McKinstry evidently didn't realize Nola ever caught the ball, as he jetted in for what he believed would be the Tigers' first run when he actually needed to get back to third.
🚨 TRIPLE PLAY 🚨 pic.twitter.com/eHmPP4ejv6
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 24, 2024
The mess of weirdness produced a 1-3-5 triple play that hadn't been seen in 95 years. Triple plays are rare as a whole — Monday's marked the first of the 2024 season and the Phillies' first in seven years — but no triple play had gone from the pitcher to first base to third base since the Tigers turned one on July 11, 1929 against the Red Sox.
Like many odd triple plays, this one required some baserunning mistakes. Kelly already appeared to have a lead off first base and didn't have much hope of getting back once his instincts led him astray, but McKinstry's blunder was inexcusable and more costly.
For the Phillies, it's been that kind of season. They're an NL-best 51-26 and have gotten everything they could've hoped and more out of their starting rotation. Monday's triple play added one more scoreless inning to the books for Phillies pitching, just in the most unusual way.
