The first 5-6-4-3 double play since 1995 required almost optimal conditions to transpire.
A gallant dive from Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia to deflect the ball. An instinctive Gold Glove performer like Bobby Witt, Jr. to scoop up the ball and fire a laser to second base.
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A nifty turn from Jonathan India. A balletic stretch from first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino.
And finally, a lumbering baserunner in Rhys Hoskins.
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Add it all up, and, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first groundball double play where every infielder touched the ball since Aug. 24, 1995, when the San Francisco Giants‘ Matt Williams, Royce Clayton, Robby Thompson and Mark Carreon pulled off the feat against the Montreal Expos’ Mike Lansing.
The rare twin killing in the bottom of the fourth inning played a key role in the Royals’ 4-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians. Starter Michael Wacha completed seven innings on 102 pitches — an outcome certainly boosted when he got two outs on a game of infield hot potato.
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With the win, the Royals improved to 5-5 while the Guardians fell to 6-5. The two teams’ three-game series is a matchup of the early leaders in the AL Central.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kansas City Royals pull off rare double play not seen since 1995
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com ’
