2-for-1: These swings got double contact

Generally speaking, a batter will only hit a pitch once. That may sound obvious, but once in a while, a player seems to take it as a challenge. Here’s a look at some of the recent twice-hit pitches that (somehow) became base hits.

Ramón Laureano, Braves
Sept. 24, 2024 vs. Mets

Laureano found himself jammed by a 97 mph fastball from Mets starter Luis Severino, but it turned out to work perfectly in the hitter's favor. The Braves outfielder flared an RBI single through the right side of the infield, extending Atlanta's lead to 3-0 in the opener of a key late-September series. Upon replay, it was clear Laureano actually hit the ball twice -- once near the handle of the bat and again near the barrel. The double contact was exactly what he needed on a base hit with a very low exit velocity: just 58.9 mph.

Shea Langeliers, Athletics
Aug. 13, 2024, at Mets

Langeliers finished a triple shy of the cycle in his second straight four-hit game, a contest that featured a quite unusual single in the fifth inning. After a homer in the third inning, the catcher managed to make double contact with a sinker from Mets right-hander José Buttó in the fifth, dumping a line drive into left field for a base hit. Langeliers added two (considerably more normal) doubles in a productive night at the plate.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
May 15, 2023, vs. Yankees

Guerrero's double was a classic "blink and you miss it" double hit. In the bottom of the seventh inning of the Blue Jays' game against the Yankees, Guerrero pulled his hands in and blooped an Ian Hamilton sinker into left field for a double in what was an impressive display of power and speed. The feat got even more impressive the more you looked at it, as a replay confirmed that Guerrero hit the ball twice during his swing.

Mike Trout, Angels
Aug. 22, 2022, at Rays

Trout dumped a seemingly normal RBI single into the outfield to open the scoring for the Angels, but upon closer inspection, the Angels star made contact with the ball twice. The ability to hit the same ball twice is just another thing that one of the best players in baseball can add to his résumé.

Gary Sánchez, Twins
Aug. 2, 2022, vs. Tigers

Sánchez managed to hit a 96 mph running sinker twice, resulting in a 75.1 mph bloop single and initial confusion from the Twins catcher. A slow-motion look at the contact appears show the ball roll down the bat before hitting the end for one final nudge to the left side.

Carter Kieboom, Nationals
Sept. 4, 2021, vs. Mets

Kieboom snuck this grounder through the middle of the infield for a fourth-inning single, and a second look showed that it made initial contact that shattered the bat and then hit off the barrel again. That caused a strange sound off the bat and some wicked spin that allowed it to just evade shortstop Francisco Lindor's grasp.

Brandon Lowe, Rays
Aug. 10, 2021, at Red Sox

Initially this looked like a routine RBI bloop single to center field, until a zoomed-in replay showed that Lowe knocked the pitch twice. Lowe also bopped a homer and a double that night, striking the ball merely once apiece for those.

James McCann, Mets
July 19, 2021, at Reds

McCann made a wild win possible for the Mets when he entered the game in Cincinnati as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and smoked a go-ahead two-run homer, but what we're interested in is his 10th-inning single, which he got ahold of twice. He got his third RBI of the night out of it, too.

Wil Myers, Padres
April 12, 2021, at Pirates

Myers has made a number of improvements to his swing over the past few seasons, but it’s safe to say he didn’t have these results in mind as he was making them. Regardless, a run is a run, and he was probably still happy to provide the first-inning lead his odd twice-hit single gave the Padres.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
Aug. 20, 2020, vs. Phillies

Given his dad’s gift for hitting bad pitches, maybe this one was to be expected. Instead of Vlad Sr.’s classic approach of recording hits on pitches that barely made it to home plate, on this occasion, Vlad Jr. went with hitting a pitch twice. (It was also probably a ball, for what it’s worth.)

Andrew Benintendi, Red Sox
Aug. 15, 2018, at Phillies

In championship seasons, things tend to break in your favor -- or at least they did for Benintendi in Philadelphia. This single didn’t start a rally, but it was yet another sign the 2018 Red Sox were on to something.

Manny Pi?a, Brewers
Aug. 1, 2018, at Dodgers

Pi?a collected three hits in this game against the Dodgers, but the most attention-grabbing of them was the second. With the score tied in the seventh, Pi?a managed to get his bat on a JT Chargois pitch in two places -- maybe a unique way to open an inning, but good enough.

Chris Carter, Brewers
June 15, 2016, at Giants

In his single season with the Brewers, Carter led the National League with 41 home runs. The ground ball that twisted through the Giants’ infield after it twice collided with his splintered bat, however, might have been his most unusual hit in Milwaukee.

Brandon Phillips, Reds
May 17, 2016, at Indians

The Reds were having a rough night in Cleveland, down 13-0 in the seventh inning, so naturally, things got a little bit weird. When Phillips twice made contact, he got the ball past Francisco Lindor, of all people. Cincinnati would ultimately lose anyway -- but Phillips did score, saving the club from a shutout.

Hunter Pence, Giants
Oct. 22, 2012, vs. Cardinals (NLCS Game 7)

The only postseason entry on this list is also the only instance of a batter hitting a ball three times -- a feat befitting the circumstances. The Giants had already come back from being down 3-1 in the series to force a pivotal Game 7 and had a modest 2-0 lead when Pence managed to get a broken-bat grounder through the infield for a bases-clearing double. Whether this was the catalyst for their World Series sweep of the Tigers is unclear.

Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
June 25, 2011, at Yankees

Tulowitzki’s years in Colorado are remembered for his elite offensive production, but consider one of his stranger base hits: Facing CC Sabathia, he made weak contact on a pitch inside -- initially. But his follow through brought the barrel of his bat to the ball, and turned that would-be grounder into a line drive.