White Sox are fourth team in 50 years to pull off this rare combination of plays
The Chicago White Sox have produced a surprising number of exciting moments this season despite having a losing record.
On Wednesday in Houston, they added a pair of memorable plays to their highlight reel while also carving out a unique place in MLB history.
The White Sox turned a triple play and hit a grand slam during their 9-4 win against the Houston Astros. Prior to this occasion, only three other MLB teams had managed to pull of this same rare combination of plays in the same game dating back to 1969, when the league began divisional play.
Indeed!
Tonight was the 4th time in the Divisional Era (since 1969) that a team hit a grand slam and turned a triple play in the same game:
9/07/1979 Toronto Blue Jays
5/17/2002 New York Mets
9/08/2017 Detroit Tigers
5/22/2019 Chicago White Sox
h/t @EliasSports— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 23, 2019
Talk about a rarity.
Prior to 1969, the Cleveland Indians were the most recent team with a triple play and grand slam in the same game. That came during Game 5 of the 1920 World Series.
The White Sox completed the most difficult portion of this rare combination first.
Ivan Nova escaped a third-inning jam by getting the Astros' Jake Marisnick to ground into an around-the-horn triple play, Yoan Moncada to Yolmer Sanchez to Jose Abreu.
It was the first triple play in MLB this season and Chicago’s fourth since 2016.
The grand slam portion of the equation was provided by Charlie Tilson, a 26-year-old outfielder who entered the game without a homer in 160 MLB at-bats.
The milestone homer put him in rare company within White Sox franchise history.
#WhiteSox whose first carer home run was a grand slam
Charlie Tilson tonight
Danny Richar 8/17/2007
Norberto Martín 6/4/1994
Kevin Bell 6/22/1976
Vince Castino 7/23/1943
Tom Turner 6/24/1942
Spencer Harris 7/28/1925
Happy Felsch 6/18/1915— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) May 23, 2019
Here’s another oddity.
About 15 minutes earlier, the Chicago Cubs’ Albert Almora also hit a grand slam in their 8-4 win against the Philadelphia Phillies. It’s only the seventh time the Cubs and White Sox have ever hit a grand slam on the same day.
Cubs & Sox with a grand slam on the same day
5.22.19: Almora, Tilson
6.13.17: Ian Happ, Matt Davidson
6.30.08: Mark DeRosa, Nick Swisher
7.5.92: Kal Daniels, George Bell
5.24.69: Ernie Banks, Bill Melton
5.28.61: Banks, Wes Covington
5.18.51: Jack Cusick, Bud Stewart
(@ckamka)— NBC Sports Chicago (@NBCSChicago) May 23, 2019
Baseball’s greatest attribute might be its unpredictability.
That was on full display on Wednesday.
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