5-6(?)-4-3 ... Royals turn rare double play not seen since 1995
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CLEVELAND -- One of the many defensive gems the Royals made in their 4-2 win over the Guardians on Monday night at Progressive Field took the entire infield to complete.
They had to go around the horn.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, with Kyle Manzardo on first base, Guardians designated hitter Rhys Hoskins hit a low liner to a lunging Maikel Garcia, but the ball popped out of the Royals third baseman’s glove before he could get a good grip on it.
Luckily, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was right there, fielding it and turning to throw a laser to second baseman Jonathan India. India then turned and fired to first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, completing a rare double play:
5-6-4-3. Just like they drew it up.
“Yeah, we’ve been working on that pregame,” Witt deadpanned. “[Infield coach Jose Alguacil] has been helping us try it.”
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Witt shook his head, unable to keep the joke going. Nobody’s able to practice that -- you just anticipate and react, which is exactly what the Royals did.
“You play this game long enough, some crazy things happen,” Witt said.
Witt was not yet born the last time a 5-6-4-3 double play was turned in MLB. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the previous one in the Majors came on Aug. 24, 1995, when the Giants turned it in Montreal: Third baseman Matt Williams to shortstop Royce Clayton to second baseman Robby Thompson to first baseman Mark Carreon, with Mike Lansing batting in the bottom of the sixth inning.
In fact, the entire Royals infield who turned Monday’s double play hadn’t been born yet when the Giants turned theirs 31 years ago. India is 29 years old, Pasquantino is 28, Garcia is 26 and Witt is 25.
“We’ve got some absolute studs out there playing defense,” Royals starter Michael Wacha said. “It was another night where they were showcasing it. It’s fun being on that mound knowing we got those guys behind us.”
And even more fun when an infielder is behind another infielder, too.
“I know Bobby’s always behind me,” Garcia said with a grin.