Mariners turn first 3-6-2-2 triple play since 1955

SEATTLE — The 11th triple play in Seattle Mariners history was almost certainly the strangest.

It happened in the fourth inning of Sunday’s 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, and it required a series of intelligent baseball plays (by the Mariners) and one serious screw-up (by Toronto).

Here’s the scene: nobody out, Ezequiel Carrera on third, Kevin Pillar on first, Taijuan Walker pitching to Ryan Goins.

Goins hits a sharp grounder to Mariners’ first baseman Mark Trumbo, who pivots and steps on first base for the first out. He checks Carrera at third before throwing to shortstop Brad Miller, who must chase after and tag out Pillar — who stopped running to make this more difficult — to achieve a double play.

But Miller instead sees that Carrera has wandered off third base and into “no-man’s land,” as Miller described it, so he does exactly what a defender is taught to do in such a situation, and runs right at Carrera to force him to commit one way or the other.

Carrera begins breaking for home, so Miller tosses the ball to catcher Mike Zunino, who runs Carrera back to third base — but Pillar has rounded second and is already standing at third — meaning one of them is assured of being out.

So with Pillar and Carrera both standing on third base, Zunino tags both. By rule, Pillar is out and Carrera — who, as the lead runner, has a right to the base — is safe. But for some reason, Carrera stepped off third — “why, I have no idea,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said. Zunino held the tag on Carrera, and the Mariners wound up with the first 3-6-2-2 triple play since 1955.

“I thought we were going to have a double play there,” Zunino said, “and then Miller did a great job of keeping his eye on Carrera at third, got him to commit the right way, gave the ball up to me, and I knew with (third baseman Kyle) Seager telling me to run him back because Pillar was already over there, and in that situation you’re told to just tag both guys and let the umpire tell you who’s out.”

Miller and Walker both said there was some confusion over how many outs were actually recorded on the play. There was so much going on, Walker said, that he actually forgot about Trumbo recording the first out by touching first base to begin with.

“We had a chance to possibly have a big inning right there,” Gibbons said. “We had the right guys coming up. That’s how you lose.”