Yankees turn their second triple play of the season in wild manner vs. Blue Jays

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Amazingly, the New York Yankees have met a team having a worse time running the bases than they’ve been this year.

After running themselves out of a ninth-inning rally Wednesday night, the Toronto Blue Jays bumbled their way Thursday night into a triple play – the second one turned by the Yankees this season.

And this was a lot more complicated than the around-the-horn triple play the Yanks pulled against the White Sox on May 21.

At Sahlen Field, the Blue Jays opened with a Marcus Semien walk and a Bo Bichette infield hit, and the runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch by Yankees starter Michael King.

Next, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tapped a comebacker to King and that’s when the Blue Jays turned into Little Leaguers.

All things Yankees: Latest New York Yankees news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

King looked Semien back to third base and threw to first baseman DJ LeMahieu for the first out.

Semien then started toward home and Bichette was halfway to third base when LeMahieu threw to shortstop Gleyber Torres.

At this point, the Yankees had both runners trapped between bases.

Torres threw to catcher Gary Sanchez, causing Semien to retreat back toward third.

Sanchez flipped to third baseman Gio Urshela, who tagged out Semien about 15 feet from the bag.

At that point, Urshela spun to see Bichette tearing toward third base and flipped to Torres, who applied the tag to a sliding Bichette.

Third base umpire C.B. Bucknor immediately called Bichette out, but the Yanks’ second triple play in three weeks wasn’t officially completed until it survived Toronto’s replay challenge.

Official scoring on the play: 1-3-6-2-5-6.

Ugly streak:Diamondbacks reach new low, lose MLB record 23rd consecutive road game

'Talk with us':Yankees ace Gerrit Cole airs frustrations with gripping baseball

Wednesday night, the Jays put the tying and winning runs at second and third with none out against Yanks closer Aroldis Chapman but they helped wreck their chances.  

Chapman fielded a comebacker and threw home to Sanchez, who then threw to third base to retire Guerrero Jr. with a pivotal first out. The Yankees won, 3-2.

Pete Caldera is the Yankees beat writer for NorthJersey.com. Email: caldera@northjersey.com Twitter: @pcaldera