We hear the promo all the time:

“Step on the bag, throw to second, throw to first, that’s a triple play!”

It happened … and at the absolute worst possible time – unless you happen to be a San Diego Padres fan. But you probably wouldn’t be reading this if you were.

To say that Tuesday night’s game between the National League West first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and the NL West second-place San Diego Padres was an important one would be a gross understatement. It was a HUGE game. One which the Dodgers flat out gave away, but more on that in a minute.

In the bottom of the fifth inning in front of a sold out Dodger Stadium crowd of 50,369, extremely popular Dodgers utility infielder Miguel Rojas grounded into a routine out to Padres first baseman Donovan Solano for the first out of the then 4-1 ballgame, with the Friars on top.

And then, with no outs in the bottom of the seventh and the score still 4-1 and with Dodgers pinch hitter Kiké Hernández on first base having led off the inning with a line-drive single to left, Rojas grounded into a 5-4-3 double play double play to Padres third baseman Manny Machado to second baseman Jake Cronenworth to Solano to clear the bases.

And then, with no outs in the bottom of the ninth and the score still 4-1, and with Dodgers catcher Will Smith on second base having led off the inning with a single to left followed by a single to right by Dodgers center fielder Tommy Edman, Kiké singled to center to score Smith, making it a 4-2 ballgame, with Edman representing the tying run at first base.

And then it happened.

Yep, Rojas hit into an around-the-horn triple play to end the inning and the game. Although Dodgers manager Dave Roberts challenged the play (because he had nothing to lose by doing so), it was a perfectly executed:

“Step on the bag, throw to second, throw to first, that’s a triple play!”

Roberts’ challenge was an exercise in futility.

“It’s shocking. It’s the least likely outcome,” Roberts said postgame. “Obviously looking at how the game’s played and how many triple plays are turned every year, and tonight with Shohei (on deck), it’s very disappointing.”

“It’s been tough for me the last couple days, I haven’t been able to get the job done, but definitely this one, especially for me, I think I let the team down,” Rojas told reporters postgame. “We got to come back tomorrow. Win tomorrow, win the next day. I feel like that’s the mentality of everybody in this clubhouse, trying to win this series is going to be important for us going forward.,” Rojas added.

Getting back to that flat out gave away thing, the guy who actually “…let the team down” was the guy that the Dodgers signed to a 12-year/$365 million contract back on July 22, 2023 – Mookie Betts. In the bottom of the first inning Betts got caught off third base by Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka to Cronenworth to Machado to run the Dodgers out of a potentially big inning.

To add insult to injury (again), the Dodgers went a dismal 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position while stranding seven runners on base to end their night.

…well that and that triple play thing.

With the loss, the Dodgers lead over San Diego is now a mere 2.0 games, with only five games remaining in the 2024 regular season, two of which are against the Padres, who are playing exceptionally well right now. In other words, and even though the Dodgers have locked in a playoff berth, they could very well find themselves finishing the regular season in second place to the Padres, who also clinched a playoff berth with their win over the Dodgers on Tuesday.

Play Ball!

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