Officially, one of Major League Baseball’s rarest plays happened on Friday night when the Washington Nationals turned a triple play against the New York Mets. MLB tweeted the play on its X account, missing an important detail in doing so.
New York’s Jesse Winker came to the plate in the top of the fourth inning with nobody out and runners on first and second. He hit a low liner to first base, which Nathaniel Lowe snagged. Lowe then threw to second to retire Brandon Nimmo, who took off to third. Shortstop CJ Abrams then threw back to first to retire Mark Vientos, who, like Nimmo, took off on contact. With that the triple play was complete.
Triple play!
The @Nationals turn THREE 🤯 pic.twitter.com/aMzhnATpzf
— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2025
There’s only one problem. As was shown clearly on the SNY broadcast, while Lowe picked the ball cleanly, he didn’t catch it. Worse — at least for the Mets — the play is not reviewable.
The Nats turned a triple play vs the Mets… on a blown call by the umps.
Gary Cohen: “It is not a reviewable play whether a ball is caught or trapped on the infield.”
Ron Darling: “None of you guys on the field saw the play as we saw it? Come on!”pic.twitter.com/hg6O1ZqA91
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 26, 2025
To be fair, Washington almost certainly would have turned a double play had the correct call been made, the triple play should not have happened.
And while MLB sharing video of a triple play without mentioning the controversy was expected, several people offered the added context.
The ball clearly hit the ground. What are we doing here? https://t.co/Xr4daBaVaZ
— Sam Neumann (@Sam_Neumann_) April 25, 2025
Triple play on a ball the first baseman didn’t catch pic.twitter.com/aJdqnUwgvj
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) April 25, 2025
This is not a triple play, @MLB. https://t.co/SWbH1jFeJB pic.twitter.com/jTTpU9M9dt
— Dan Bartels (@DanBartels2) April 26, 2025
Are you seriously advertising how incompetent @MLBUA is? Bad looks admin https://t.co/2gX9txcsIi
— Toni-ann (@tonianncanovaaa) April 25, 2025
Tell the 18-year old who tweeted this to delete this NOW https://t.co/ASNa9Ok3oj
— Matthew Coca (@matthewcoca) April 26, 2025
Thanks @MLB for highlighting one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen. In an era with replay, for some reason, this obvious call was not eligible to be reviewed. Rob Manfred is the worst commissioner in sports. https://t.co/S3WgSNkot0
— Rob 🇺🇸 (@CramerNY) April 25, 2025
Is this a @OldTakesExposed ? https://t.co/oY7V3KT0rG
— Colin Sheehan 🐴 (@csheehan45) April 25, 2025
Umpires brutally botched things, calling a triple play when the fielders actually got ZERO outs, and the incompetent @MLB social media folks brag about it like it’s a highlight instead of a lowlight. #smh #LgM https://t.co/zOOu5YPhnh
— Justin Pearson (@JustinPearsonIJ) April 26, 2025
This post needs a community note, @Mets Twitter. https://t.co/yxcfU0InVN
— Jayme Figueroa (@onewingedkefka) April 26, 2025
