Blue Jays affiliate pulls off a triple play in Triple-A!

On Friday night, many fans were able to witness a rare baseball feat in the game between the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons and the Minnesota Twins’ Triple-A affiliate St. Paul Saints.

With the Bisons leading 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning, the Saints put two men on base via a walk and a single to start the inning, bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate in Saints’ shortstop Elliot Soto. After working the count to 3 and 2 off Bisons’ pitcher Yosver Zulueta, the Saints’ set their runners in motion as Soto connected on the next pitch. The ball appeared to be heading towards left field before Bisons’ shortstop Otto Lopez made a giant leap and speared down the ball in his glove. Knowing that the runners had been running on the play, Lopez quickly turned and fired to Davis Schneider at second base, where he stepped on the bag and tagged out the incoming runner from first base to complete the rare 6-4-4 triple play.

Here is the amazing feat by the Bisons’ defence captured in real time:

The play captured some hilarious moments as well, as both the umpire and television commentators were confused in thinking that Schneider still needed to throw to first base to complete the play, as they hesitated to officially confirm the triple play until a few seconds later. That was when they realized stepping on the bag at second base ruled out the lead runner as the second out, and with the tag applied to the incoming runner, that was sufficient to successfully record the third and final out.

The Bisons went on to defeat the Saints 4-1 for their 30th win of the season. Zach Thompson, acquired from a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates during the offseason for Chavez Young, went a strong 5 2/3 innings, giving up only three hits and one run to go along with five strikeouts to capture his second win of the season. Spencer Horwitz led the 13-hit barrage with three hits to help lead the Bisons to victory.

A feat such as a triple play comes as rare as a no-hitter in baseball, so whenever it happens, it’s usually a moment worth reminiscing. To put it into perspective, the last time the Jays pulled off a triple play was over a decade ago, way back in 2012 in a game against the Kansas City Royals. But with the Jays drastically improved defence in 2023, be on the lookout for a potential triple play in the near future.