Monday, August 24, 2009

Unassisted Game Ending Triple Play

Playing against the New York Mets, Eric Bruntlett of the Philadelphia Phillies had an unassisted triple play to end the game. Unassisted triple plays are rare with only 14 others (15 now) on the books. Game ending triple plays are even more uncommon happening only once before.



Angel Pagan (Mets) hit both an inside the park and outside the park home run; another oddity.



http://espn.go.com/mlb/gamecast?gameId=290823121&top



"Bruntlett became the second player in major league history to get the final three outs on his own, accomplishing the feat Sunday to preserve the Philadelphia Phillies' 9-7 victory over the New York Mets.

...

Indeed, it was a stunning end to a crazy game that included an inside-the-park homer after the ball got stuck under the outfield wall.



Bruntlett turned the 15th unassisted triple play in big league history -- the second that ended a game. Detroit Tigers first baseman Johnny Neun also turned the trick on May 31, 1927, completing a 1-0 victory over Cleveland, according to STATS LLC.

...

With runners on first and second in the ninth inning and a run already in, Jeff Francoeur hit a line drive up the middle that appeared headed toward center field for a single. But both runners were stealing on the 2-2 pitch, so Bruntlett was in perfect position as he moved over to cover second base.



He caught the liner easily, stepped on second to double up Luis Castillo and then turned to tag Daniel Murphy for the third out. Murphy tried to backpedal away from Bruntlett, but had nowhere to go."

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