The Atlanta Braves pulled off something at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox in their Tuesday matchup that hadn't been done in nearly 140 years.
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According to Baseball Almanac, there have been 734 triple plays, including the Braves rendition, since May 13, 1876.
It happened in the third inning when center fielder Michael Harris II caught a shallow fly ball off the bat of Triston Casas. He threw the ball to first as Adam Duvall was too far away from the base, thinking it would be a blooper into center. From there, Matt Olson, the Braves first baseman, threw the ball across the diamond to third base as Austin Riley had plenty of room to place a tag on Masataka Yoshida. Yoshida was tagging up from second, and in the midst of the throw from center field to first base, he thought he could hurry his way to third base.
"My instincts told me right off the bat that it was off the end," Duvall said after the game. "I'm reading the outfielder. My goal is to get to second if it drops in front of him. I got out a little too far, and he made a good throw back. It's one of those things; it's risk/reward, and it didn't go my way tonight."
See the play for yourself in the clip below.
TRIPLE PLAY!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/HNDjdv9Asc
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 26, 2023
How Rare Was Atlanta's Triple Play?
Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images
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The triple play was dubbed an "8-3-5 triple play." For those unfamiliar with what the numbers mean, each of the nine fielders in baseball are given a number that explains their position on the field.
Let's look over these numbers:
- 1 - Pitcher
- 2 - Catcher
- 3 - First Base
- 4 - Second Base
- 5 - Third Base
- 6 - Shortstop
- 7 - Left Field
- 8 - Center Field
- 9 - Right Field
So, as you can see from those numbers, the 8-3-5 triple play went in this order: Center field, first base, third base.
This is important because it was just the second to ever happen in baseball history, with the first coming in 1884 with the Providence Grays and Boston Beaneaters.
The Braves did go on to lose this game 7-1, but they celebrated their first triple-play since 2004 against the San Diego Padres. The Red Sox last hit into one in 2017 against the Baltimore Orioles.
