Mullins' triple the WILDEST you've ever seen

It’s long been said that the triple is the most exciting play in baseball. The one Cedric Mullins hit Monday may qualify as the strangest.

You’ve heard of a “hustle double.” Mullins hit a hustle three-bagger in Monday’s 4-1 win over the Red Sox at Oriole Park, sparking the O’s two-run eighth-inning rally with a triple on a popup to shallow left field.

Here’s how: The Red Sox's infield was shifted against Mullins, a left-handed hitter. He then punched Matt Andriese’s 2-1 cutter just 161 feet the other way, with 70.7 mph exit velocity -- per Statcast, such batted balls have an expected batting average of .020. Translation: They are almost never hits, much less triples.

But because of the shift, Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts had to run 97 feet from the far side of second base, and he nearly collided with third baseman Rafael Devers, who was sprinting back from the infield grass. Bogaerts bobbled the ball as he tried to make a running catch -- not once, but twice. The ball then dropped to the turf, where Bogaerts smothered it with his glove, only to have it pop out for a third time. Devers then retrieved it near the left-field line, took a look at where Mullins was and attempted to make the play at third.

Mullins, who never stopped running, beat catcher Christian Vázquez to the third-base bag with a headfirst slide.

“They should put this on an educational film for all young players about how to get out of the box,” O’s manager Brandon Hyde said. “Because it was: ball hit, eyes up and incredible hustle. He got to third base so fast. It was a great heads-up play, and we needed it.”

Per xBA, it was the most unlikely triple hit in the Majors this season, and only the sixth triple with a .020 xBA or lower recorded in the Statcast Era. For the Orioles, it set up two key insurance runs behind Jorge López and four relievers, helping Baltimore avoid a four-game sweep against Boston. Mullins scored two batters later on Trey Mancini’s RBI single.

“It was electric, and got that inning started for us,” Mancini said. “The way they were shifted, when he hit it, I immediately knew it had a chance to drop. And Cedric went super hard out of the box. Everything kind of had to happen like it did for him to get to third.”

For Mullins, it was the first triple in a season full of other knocks. He completed play on Monday batting .312, with 43 hits in 35 games.

“It was a fluke play,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I believe everybody reacted the right way. … Good heads-up play by their guy. Christian was -- I don’t think he was late [covering third]. The guy was safe. It was just a fluky play.”