Yankees secure win vs. Athletics with another triple play, tie MLB record

Joe Rivera

•
Yankees secure win vs. Athletics with another triple play, tie MLB record image

If a double play is a pitcher's best friend, then what's a triple play?

The Yankees had already turned two triple plays this season before Sunday, including one that has literally never been seen before in MLB history. Then they pulled off one more, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

With the Yankees teetering on the brink of danger in the ninth inning, closer Aroldis Chapman got A's catcher Sean Murphy to ground to third baseman Gio Urshela, who stepped on the bag and relayed to DJ LeMahieu, who then threw to Chris Gittens for the 5-4-3 game-ender.

It was a record-tying play by the Yankees: The high-water mark for triple plays turned in a season is three, with the feat most recently accomplished by the White Sox in 2016.

The Yankees' second triple play of the year — a 1-3-6-2-5-6 triple killing vs. the Blue Jays on June 17 — had never accomplished in baseball history:

The around-the-horn game-ending triple play on Father's Day secured a 2-1 victory over Oakland and gave New York the series win over a hot A's team. New York moves to 38-33 and continues to right the ship in an up-and-down season.

But, hey, that's a pretty cool gift for dads everywhere.

Joe Rivera

Joe Rivera Photo

Joe Rivera is in his seventh year with The Sporting News, handling NFL, MLB and some things pro wrestling. A proud-ish Rutgers University graduate, Rivera combines a new-school flair with an old-school soul. He loves dingers, wrestling, comic books, movies, music and really bad puns. He is also a card-carrying BBWAA member and teaches Multimedia Sports Reporting at his alma mater.

You can find him and tweet him @JoeRiveraSN, if you're into that sort of thing.