The Astros were down, 1-0, in the third inning of their game against the White Sox on Wednesday, but the Astros have baseball’s best lineup and looked certain to take the lead when a Tony Kemp double followed by a Robinson Chirinos hit by pitch put two runners on base with no outs for Jake Marisnick against Chicago starter Ivan Nova.
Marisnick turned on an inside fastball and smacked it hard down the third-base line, but right at White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada. Moncada scooped it up while standing on third for the first out, then fired it to second baseman Yolmer Sanchez, who relayed it on to first base for one of the most nonchalant and routine-looking double plays you will ever see at any level:
Sanchez quietly made a great play to receive a low throw from Moncada and redirect it to first, but on the whole, it’s hard to imagine a more tailor-made triple play.
White Sox outfielder Charlie Tilson hit a grand slam in the sixth inning of his team’s 9-4 win, making the Chicago club only the fourth team in the last 40 years to turn a triple play and hit a grand slam in the same game. Oddly enough, White Sox catcher James McCann was also playing for the last team that did it, the 2017 Tigers.
The loss was the Astros’ third in their last 18 contests.
