Trailing by a run in the eighth inning Saturday, the Cincinnati Reds were just looking for a way to keep the score close to help their offense.
In other words, it was perfect timing for the Reds to turn their first triple play in four years. The Reds came back to win 3-2 in 10 innings via a walk-off single by Tyler Stephenson.
"There’s a lot of plays in the game that kept us in it in order to win," starting pitcher Sonny Gray said. "That’s way up there high on the list.”
"That was dope," left fielder Jesse Winker said.
"A huge swing in that game," Reds manager David Bell said.
There were runners on the corners and no outs when Reds lefty Amir Garrett faced Cleveland first baseman Josh Naylor. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Naylor lined a slider straight into Joey Votto's glove at first base.
Votto caught the ball, then raced Franmil Reyes to the first-base bag in an attempt to turn a double play. Votto dove toward first base and tagged Reyes in the same motion.
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Eddie Rosario, the runner at third, didn't tag on Votto's catch and ran to the plate. Votto immediately stood up after tagging out Reyes and saw Rosario slide across home plate. Votto appeared to ask if Rosario touched third base after his catch, then threw to the base. Max Schrock caught it, third-base umpire Chris Conroy signaled out and Votto did a fist pump in celebration.
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"I wasn’t sure if Joey caught the ball in the air," Schrock said. "I was screaming, ‘Four!’ I was screaming throw home. I’m glad he didn’t do that because it was a lot easier for him to flip it over to me at third it ended up being. It’s cool to be a part of that."
"You look back it and Joey made an unbelievable play just to catch the ball," Gray said.
There were a lot of fist pumps from other fielders and Votto broke into a smile and held up three fingers as he descended the dugout stairs to celebrate with other teammates amazed by the play.
"It came at a huge moment," Winker said. "It was really cool. That was a helluva play. That ball was crushed right at him. He dove and tagged the guy and then just threw the ball over to third and I don't know how ... the momentum shifted right back. It was an amazing play."
Said Stephenson: "That’s the first time I’ve seen that. That was pretty cool."
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Had Votto run to third base instead of throwing it to Schrock, it would have been a rare unassisted triple play. It's never happened in Reds' franchise history, according to a database from the Society for American Baseball Research. It hasn't happened in an MLB game since 2009.
"We got a break there," Bell said. "We got the break and we made the most of it and then came back and won. But it could have definitely been a different game if they score a run or two there."
It was the 31st triple play in Reds history and the first since July 25, 2017, against the New York Yankees. Votto was a part of that triple play, too.
Todd Frazier, playing for the Yankees, hit a line drive to shortstop with the bases loaded. Shortstop Jose Peraza fielded it on a hop, touched second and threw to Votto at first for the first two outs. It became a triple play when the runner who started at second, Didi Gregorius, was caught in a rundown between second and third.
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