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Angel Pagan Has Inside-the-Parker, Starts Triple Play In Same Game

May 20, 2010, 2:00 PM UTC

â†µWe’ve had some fun this season talking about some of the most exciting plays in baseball, and darn it if another one didn’t happen Wednesday night. Actually, two…in the same game, by the same player.â†µ

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â†µâ†µIn the fourth inning of last night’s game against the Nationals, Mets center fielder Angel Pagan hit an inside-the-park home run, which, if you knew what was coming an inning later, seems rather pedestrian. On its own, however, the play was incredibly exciting as Pagan nearly hit a run-of-the-mill-over-the-fence home run beyond the extended reach of Nats center fielder Nyjer Morgan. Predictably, the ball careened back into center field, past the leaping Morgan, where the left fielder Josh Willingham hurried it back to the infield. Shortstop Ian Desmond took the relay and nearly gunned down Pagan at the plate with a terrific throw, making what looked to be a sure-fire inside-the-parker once the ball hit the wall into a really close play at the plate.â†µ

â†µâ†µOn it’s own, that play had everything, and would be an obvious choice for play of the game (watch that play here). An inning later, things got screwy. â†µ

â†µâ†µWith the Nats up 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth and men on first and second with no outs, the Mets anticipated a bunt from Cristian Guzman. So, with the infield in and the outfield playing rather shallow, Guzman slapped a ball into center field, where Pagan caught the looper just before it hit the ground. â†µ

â†µâ†µHe quickly threw the ball back into the infield, where it rolled to Mets catcher Henry Blanco, who was standing near the pitcher’s mound. Blanco tossed the ball to Jose Reyes, who was standing on second, forcing out the runner who had moved to third base. With the runner from first now standing on second, Reyes threw to first (rather than just tagging the man next to him) where Ike Davis recorded the third out. So, what could have been easily scored 8-6 TP had Pagan just thrown to Reyes to step on second base then tag the runner from first, turned into a rather wacky 8-2-6-3 TP.â†µ

â†µâ†µWatch the video here.â†µâ†µ

â†µâ†µTo his credit, Pagan actually did try to throw to Reyes, but in hurrying to secure the triple play, the toss went a little high:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“I knew we could have had the triple play,” Pagan said. “I threw it to Reyes, maybe a little too high for him, but we got it done.”â†µâ†µ

Pagan is the first player to record an inside-the-park home run and start a triple play since Ted Kazanski did it for the Phillies in the second game of a double header to end the 1955 season. Kazanski’s team won that game. Unfortunately for Pagan, his team could not.â†µâ†µIn fact, after going 14-9 in the month of April the Mets have gone just 5-13 in May. In fact, on May 1, the Mets found themselves at the top of the National League East by a full game over the next best team. Now, just 20 days later, they are in last place in the division and six games out. Clearly the Mets would rather fill up the win column than the highlight reel. â†µ

â†µâ†µBut hey, Pagan had a pretty good night.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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