FanPost

Multiple triples and steals in a game

A week ago today, Kyle Tucker of the Astros walked on a 3-2 pitch leading off the fourth inning at home against the Astros.

On the next 2 pitches, he stole second and third.

In the sixth, with 1 out and a runner on second, Tucker tripled.

With 2 out, he tripled again, driving home the last of the Astros' 8 runs in the inning.

The triples were Tucker's first in 195 games, since Aug. 13, 2022.

8 players had hit a pair of triples since then, including Yan Gomes of the Cubs, on July 20 of this year, at home against the Cardinals, and former Cub Zach McKinstry, for the Tigers, at home against the Mets on Aug. 28.

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RARE FEAT

Tucker became only the fourth player in 97 seasons to hit 2 triples in an inning.

The previous 3 were Al Zarilla of the Browns, in 1946; Gil Coan of the Senators, in 1951; and Cory Sullivan of the Rockies, in 2006.

None of those 3 also had 2 steals.

19 other players, none of them Cubs, did have 2 triples and 2 steals, 3 of them twice: Burt Shotton of the Browns, in 1911 and 1913; Vince Coleman of the Cardinals, in 1985 and 1994; and Lance Johnson of the White Sox, in 1994-95.

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The first of Coleman's games was against the Cubs, at Wrigley Field on Aug. 1, 1985.

He singled to start the game, went to second on a walk, then stole third and home.

The Cardinals added another run in the inning, but the Cubs stormed back to take an 8-2 lead after the fourth.

Coleman tripled with 1 out and nobody on in the fifth. Moments later, he was tagged at the plate as he tried to score on a grounder to third.

His second triple also came with 1 out and nobody on, in the seventh. He came home on a sacrifice fly to make the score 8-4.

It was 8-5 when he singled off Lee Smith with 1 out in the ninth. Another single sent him to third. A third scored him. Jack Clark then tripled home the tying runs.

Coleman struck out to start the 11th and end the 13th.

Keith Moreland of the Cubs doubled with 1 out in the Cubs' 13th. A pair of walks, the first intentional, loaded the bases for Larry Bowa, who executed a squeeze bunt as Moreland raced home to win the game, 9-8.

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EARLIER 2 AND 2 VS. CUBS

3 previous players had made 2 triples and 2 steals against the Cubs.

The first was Kiki Cuyler of the visiting Pirates, on April 15, 1925.

He tripled leading off the second inning and scored on the first of back-to-back home runs.

His second triple, with 1 out in the third, drove home a runner from first.

He singled in 2 runs in the fourth, then stole second.

In the sixth, he hit into a forceout for the second out, then swiped second.

The Pirates won, 8-4, scoring all their runs in the first 7 innings before the Cubs tallied any of theirs.

Cuyler was traded to the Cubs in November of 1927 and played 949 games for them, over 8 seasons, during which he slashed .325/.391/.485.

He hit 66 triples as a Cub, but never 2 in a game. He stole 161 bases, including 3 in 1 game and 2 in 15 others, but did not hit a triple in any of the multi-steal games.

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No one matched Cuyler's feat against the Cubs until Willie Davis of the Dodgers, on July 22, 1962, also at Wrigley Field.

He tripled home a run with 1 out in the first and scored on a singled. A double and a homer put the Cubs in a 5-0 hole.

They got on the scoreboard in their half on consecutive singles by Ron Santo, George Altman and Ernie Banks.

But in the top of the second, Davis greeted new reliever Al Lary with a 2-run triple, then scored on a grounder by his brother, Tommy, to make the score 8-1.

Willie Davis's thefts came in the fourth. With 1 out, he hit into a forceout. After a fly out, he stole second on an 0-1 pitch to Ron Fairly, took third on a 2-2 pitch and came home on a 3-2 single.

That made the score 11-5. It was 13-6 at the end.

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Another Dodger, Steve Sax, is the only player to make 2 triples and steal 2 steals against the Cubs on the road. He did it on June 29, 1984.

He led off the game with a triple off Rick Sutcliffe. After a walk, Sax stole home. A walk and a forceout plus throwing error on a double play attempt gave the Dodgers a second run.

Sax singled to start the third, stole second and was stranded, as Sutcliffe struck out the next 2 batters, issued a walk, then notched a third strikeout.

Sax smacked his second triple in the fourth, with 2 out and runners on second and third.

He grounded out and struck out later on, as the Dodgers coasted to a 7-1 win.

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CUBS WITH MULTIPLE TRIPLES

Gomes' 2-triple game against the Cardinals on July 20 was the 109th since 1901 in which a Cub has tripled more than once.

It was the first such game since May 9, 2018, when Willson Contreras had a pair in a 13-4 win over the Marlins at home.

It was the 10th such game this century. The earlier 8, in chronological order, were by Michael Tucker (2001), Jose Macias (2004), Mike Fontenot (2010), Starlin Castro (2011), David DeJesus (2012), Nate Schierholtz (2013), Dexter Fowler (2015) and Chris Coghlan (also 2015).

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The 109 multi-triple games were by 69 players.

Frank Schulte, Ernie Banks and Billy Williams each did it 5 times.

Others with more than 1 such game:

4: Johnny Evers, Billy Herman, Bill Nicholson, Vic Saier and Frank Schulte

3: Roy Smalley and Joe Tinker

2: Phil Cavarretta, Frank Chance, Dee Fondy, Stan Hack, Topsy Hartsel, Don Kessinger, Johnny Kling, Ryne Sandberg and Heinie Zimmerman

That's a total of 19 players, who had 59 games with multiple triples.

The 50 one-timers include George Altman, pitcher Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, Bill Buckner, Starlin Castro, Andre Dawson, Shawon Dunston, Mike Fontenot, Dexter Fowler, Mark Grace, Charlie Grimm, Gabby Hartnett, Ron Santo and Hack Wilson.

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CUBS WITH 3 TRIPLES

3 Cubs have tripled 3 times in a game.

Charlie Hollocher was the first, on Aug. 13, 1922, at St. Louis.

The Cubs' first batter doubled, then Hollocher tripled. He scored on another double and that runner eventually came home, too.

Hollocher tripled again with 1 out and nobody on in the second. He was out at home when he tried to score on a grounder to short.

He bunted and grounded out in his next 2 trips to the plate, then walloped his third triple in the seventh, with 1 out and 2 aboard, to make the score 7-1. He held at third on an out, then scored on a single.

In the eighth, Hollocher grounded to the second baseman, who bobbled the ball, as a runner from third came home with the Cubs' 14th run.

The final score was 15-6.

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Ernie Banks tripled 3 times in an 8-2 win at Houston on June 11, 1966.

His first triple came in the fourth, after a leadoff single by Santo. Byron Browne followed with a homer that increased the Cubs' lead to 5-0.

They were in front, 5-0, in the fifth when Banks came up with 1 out, Glenn Beckert on second and Santo on first.

The runners pulled off a double steal, then Beckert scored and Santo went to third on a passed ball. Banks' triple drove home Santo: 7-0.

With 2 out and nobody on in the ninth, Santo singled and Banks followed with his record-tying third triple.

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Shawon Dunston completed the trio on July 28, 1990, in a wild game at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

He brought the Cubs to within 3-2 when he tripled leading off the fifth inning and scored on a single by Joe Girardi.

Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace singled to open the sixth. They went to second and third on a grounder to the right side by Andre Dawson. Dave Clark then was walked intentionally.

Luis Salazar foiled the strategy by hitting an 0-2 pitch for a single that knocked in 1 run.

Dunston then cleared the bases by blasting a 1-1 delivery to deep right-center for a triple. Girardi hit a fly on the next pitch, Dunston tagged up and raced home to give the Cubs a 7-3 lead.

It didn't last long, as the Expos turned 3 singles, a strikeout, another single, a double and a groundout into 5 runs to tie the game at 7.

It still was tied when Sandberg led off the ninth with a single. He was bunted to second and remained there as Dawson popped up and Marvell Wynne was walked intentionally.

Luis Salazar followed with a ground ball that was misplayed by the second baseman, enabling Sandberg to tally to go-ahead run.

Dunston laced the next pitch down the right field line for his second triple that wrapped up the scoring in the Cubs' 10-7 victory.

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MULTIPLE TRIPLES AND A STEAL

Neither Hollocher, Banks nor Dunston stole a base in their 3-triple games.

8 others had a steal along with 2 triples.

Frank Chance, Joe Tinker and Frank Schulte did it in consecutive seasons, 1905-07, then Johnny Evers turned the trick in 1910; Vic Saier, in 1913; and Turner Barber, in 1919.

Evers and Barber did it at home. The only 2 such games by a Cub since Barber were on the road.

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On July 31, 1931, at St. Louis, Danny Taylor tripled with a runner on second and 1 out in the third inning. He came home on a groundout by Rogers Hornsby, making the score 4-0.

There was a runner on first and 1 out when Taylor tripled in the fifth. After Hornsby walked, Hack Wilson lined out to right, Taylor scored and the Cubs led, 7-0.

Taylor walked to lead off the seventh, stole second and scored on a 2-out single by Charlie Grimm.

The Cubs' lead was 9-1 at that point and then won by 10-3.

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On May 3, 1955, at New York against the Giants, the first Cub, Jim Bolger, was safe on an error by the second baseman. Dee Fondy then grounded to the pitcher, who threw wildly to second and both runners were safe.

After the Bolger was forced out at third, Fondy stole third. A walk to Randy Jackson loaded the bases, and all 3 runners scored on a triple by Bob Speake.

With 2 out and nobody on in the second, Bolger singled and Fondy tripled.

Bolger opened the eighth by striking out on a knuckleball by reliever Hoyt Wilhelm, but the ball eluded the catcher and Bolger made it to first.

Fondy followed with his second triple, driving in Bolger. Jackson's 1-out sacrifice fly knocked in Fondy with the final run in the Cubs' 6-0 win.

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