Rangers turn nifty triple play with some quick thinking by Jurickson Profar

The Rangers faced a precarious position, with the bases full of Angels and nobody out in the fourth inning. But thanks to an unconventional play and quick thinking by Jurickson Profar, Texas was out of the frame with no damage done.

We are used to seeing cool plays from the Rangers third baseman, though they usually come from Adrian Beltre. But the veteran is out with his third hamstring injury of the season, a situation so frustrating that the 39-year-old Beltre was contemplating Thursday just when to “say goodbye” to baseball.

Ariel Jurado was the beneficiary of the defense, and he needed it. Already down 6-3 to the Halos, the 22-year-old rookie walked Taylor Ward then allowed singles to Eric Young Jr. and Kole Calhoun to load the bases for David Fletcher.

Teams with the bases loaded and nobody out this season average scoring 2.25 runs for the rest of the inning, per Baseball Prospectus. The odds of scoring at least one run is a whopping 83.5%. Understandably it is the worst position a pitcher could be in.

But sometimes all it takes is a single pitch to get out of a jam.

Fletcher grounded a ball to Profar’s right, and his momentum allowed him to step on third base for the force out to retire Young. But this is where it got interesting. Ward, playing his third major league game, was on third base, and instinctively tried to avoid a tag from Profar so he moved off the bag and into harm’s way.

Ward wasn’t able to avoid the tag for the second out, then Profar threw to Rougned Odor at second base for the third and final out. Calhoun was out at second on a force out, but for good measure Odor ran down the line to tag him anyway, completing the sixth triple play in the 58-year history of the Rangers.

And just how rare was a triple play in which the batter wasn’t retired on the play? How about none in the previous 105 years!