Rangers turn 7th triple play in club history

SEATTLE -- Rangers starter Dane Dunning came up with an efficient -- and very rare -- way to get out of a first-inning jam during Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to the Mariners.

He induced a triple play.

A night after the Mariners scored three runs in the opening inning, it looked like they might equal that or do even better when Adam Frazier led off with a walk off Dunning, Ty France lined a single to left field and Jesse Winker scalded a low liner toward first base with an exit velocity of 100.9 mph and a hit probability of 63 percent.

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France and Frazier apparently thought it was a hit all the way and started scooting toward second and third, respectively. But in a matter of seconds, Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe caught the ball for the first out, stepped on first base for the second out, and then threw to shortstop Corey Seager at second for the inning-ending third out and a rare 3-6 triple play.

The Mariners lingered on the bases for a few moments, wondering what exactly had just occurred, as the Rangers ran back to the dugout.

It was the seventh triple play turned by the Rangers in club history, the last coming Aug. 16, 2018, against the Angels. It was the 10th against the Mariners by any team. The last one Seattle hit into came Sept. 2, 2006, at Tampa Bay. That one was a 2-6-2 triple play.