The Twins mirrored the past against the Angels with their first triple play in 11 years
Fans at Angel Stadium hoped to see history on Thursday night against the Twins with
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Twins had a 1-0 lead, but pitcher
Improbably, Sano combined with
They went on to win the game, 4-2.
The Twins had made the Angels triple play victims in the past, as well. In fact, the franchise's first triple play since its move to Minnesota came against the then-California Angels on Aug. 18, 1966:
The @Twins just turned a triple play against the @Angels. Back on 8/18/1966 the Twins turned their first triple play also against the Angels pic.twitter.com/4XJpl3qELd
— Zinn Beck (@ZBDigitalibrary) June 2, 2017
The team's last triple play came on May 27, 2006, against the Mariners, when Kenji Johjima hit into a 4-3-5 triple killing that featured
The triple play on Thursday, however, had a closer comparison to the two most famous triple plays in Twins history. Back on July 17, 1990, at Fenway Park, the Twins got the Red Sox to hit into not one, but two triple plays of the round-the-horn variety.
They remain the only team in MLB history to record two triple plays in the same game. Just like Thursday night, it was 5-4-3, except with Gary Gaetti, Al Newman, and Kent Hrbek. The Twins had all of baseball seeing double. Or should it be seeing triple?