Triple play or not, it's in the book against the Mets

WASHINGTON — Yes, we all know the triple play hit into by Jesse Winker on Friday night was a triple play only because of a botched umpire’s call.

“Well, it was a triple play,” Winker told Newsday on Saturday. “It totally was.”

Winker meant the triple-play-that-shouldn’t-have-been went into the record books as a triple play even though first-base umpire Alfonso Marquez incorrectly ruled that Washington first baseman Nathaniel Lowe had caught Winker’s line drive when he in fact trapped it. The Nationals then retired the two Mets baserunners for the rare triple play in the fourth inning of Washington’s eventual 5-4 victory.

The mistake is not fixable under MLB’s replay rules because catch/not catch is not reviewable if the play happens in the infield.

Let’s put that part of it aside for a moment. It’s not in dispute that Lowe trapped the ball and it’s not in dispute that despite that fact, Winker has a triple play forever attached to his batting record.

Make that the second triple play that Winker has attached to his batting record after a line drive hit at Nathaniel Lowe.

“It’s the second one I’ve hit into with Nate Lowe,” Winker said. “I did it in Seattle. Nate Lowe turned a similar triple play. He caught that one in the air. He did the exact same thing to me in Seattle when he was on the Rangers.”

It was April 20, 2022. In the bottom of the first inning, Winker hit another low liner at Lowe, who caught this one cleanly, doubled off Ty France at first base and then flipped to Corey Seager at second to triple up Adam Frazier.

“Nate Lowe just be catching them balls low,” Winker said. “He caught it low. Similar play.”

Triple plays — whether real or bogus — are pretty rare. The Mets, who were born in 1962, have hit into 11 and have turned 11 on defense.

The last one the Mets hit into before Winker was an around-the-horn 5-4-3 triple play on a grounder by Ruben Tejada against San Diego on June 10, 2010.

The last one the Mets turned was on Aug. 24, 2014, against the Dodgers in Los Angeles on a ball hit by Matt Kemp.

There were runners on first and second with nobody out. Kemp hit a grounder to third baseman Eric Campbell, who threw to Daniel Murphy at second to start a routine 5-4-3 double play.

Here’s the part that was not routine: Yasiel Puig, the runner at second, decided to try to score even though the Dodgers were trailing 7-2 in the sixth. He was thrown out at home by Lucas Duda to Travis d’Arnaud for a 5-4-3-2 triple play.

Murphy, who is broadcasting this series in Washington for SNY, said he does not remember that triple play.

When told the precise details and asked if he remembered it now, Murphy said: “No.”

But Murphy does have a clear recollection about one of the most famous triple plays in Mets and baseball history: a game-ending unassisted triple play.

It was Aug. 23, 2009, at Citi Field. The Mets were trailing the Phillies 9-7 in the ninth with runners on first and second. Murphy was the runner at first. He and Luis Castillo, the runner at second, were on the move on 3-and-2 as Jeff Francoeur lined a ball up the middle.

Phillies second baseman Eric Bruntlett was on his way to cover the base because of the steal attempt when the ball found his glove. Bruntlett immediately stepped on second to double off Castillo. Murphy stopped short of second and started to backpedal toward rightfield but eventually was tagged out by Bruntlett.

“I certainly remember the one against the Phillies,” Murphy said. “Nobody out, 3-2 count. Five feet to the left or right, and we’re on the bingo. I have a chance to score. But unfortunately, he just stuck his glove in my chest to finish it off. So I tried to run as far as I could. I was, like, trying to get invisible.”

It was the 15th unassisted triple play in MLB history (going into Saturday, there hasn’t been one since) and the second one to end a game.

As for Friday’s triple play — which the Mets correctly contend was not legit — Murphy said, “It’s legit in the sense that it lasts forever.”

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.