The White Sox turned their third triple play of the season Friday, this time pulling off the triple-killing against the Braves.
In the top of the third inning with Chicago up 4-3, the Braves had runners on first and second with no outs. Freddie Freeman hit a liner to shortstop Tim Anderson, who scooped it up, tagged second for the first out, then tagged Atlanta runner Chase d'Arnaud, who had strayed slightly off second base, then threw to first for the third out.
No, this isn't a replay.
— MLB (@MLB) July 9, 2016
The @WhiteSox turn their THIRD triple play of 2016. Mercy: https://t.co/GyLnAjFdfChttps://t.co/4kknLGQINu
The Sox are the first team since 1979 to turn three triple plays in one season. Their first triple play was a bizarre happening against the Rangers in April, while their second one was a much more conventional play against the Astros about a month later.
Friday's triple play concluded a stretch that showcased two defensive extremes. The Braves had just completed a highly inefficient defensive inning in which they had an easily catchable fly ball drop among four fielders, had their pitcher field a bunt that was certainly going foul (allowing a run to score) and had an outfielder forget how many outs there were after making a catch.
Now the Braves hit into a triple play. Is there anything that hasn't gone wrong within the past 20 minutes?
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 9, 2016
Despite all that, Atlanta easily handled the usually unbeatable Chris Sale, clubbing three home runs and scoring eight runs through five innings en route to an 11-8 win.
