Very Usual Game Features Very Unusual Inside-The-Park Homer And Triple Play

Wednesday's tilt between the Mets and Nationals didn't look to be anything special. The slumping Mets have fallen into last place. The Nationals came in losers of five in a row. With Livan Hernandez and journeyman (albeit journeyman knuckleballer) R.A. Dickey serving as the two starters, one would've been forgiven for just ignoring this game entirely.

But those who didn't ignore it were in for something, all right. First, in the fourth inning, Angel Pagan came up, blasted a 1-0 changeup to center, and kept on running all the way around the bases for the second inside-the-park homer of his career. But that wasn't all.

An inning and a half later, with two on and none out, Cristian Guzman hit a liner to center that had the two runners off to the races. The ball, however, found the glove of one Angel Pagan, who started what would become an 8-2-6-3 triple play. Pagan actually overthrew his target, but catcher Henry Blanco was able to throw down to second in plenty of time to keep the play going.

Two innings, two rare, historically significant plays, both started by the same outfielder. I'm not sure about the last time that happened, but the last time a game featured both an inside-the-parker and a triple play was August 23rd, 2009, when the Phillies defeated...the Mets, who had been powered along by Pagan's other inside-the-park home run. It would appear that Angel Pagan is a catalyst for weird.

To be honest, triple plays and inside-the-park homers are cool, but it's kind of a shame that Angel Pagan's dual feats had to overshadow R.A. Dickey's killer pitch face.

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Hot sexy commentary update: the last time a player pulled off a feat like Pagan's? 1955.

Courtesy Elias: Ted Kazanski initiated triple play and hit inside park HR for '55 Phils, just like Angel Pagan did.

I would also like to point out that this baseball game featured an inside-the-park home run, a triple play, a knuckleballer, and a Jeff Francoeur walk. This game is like watching Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster make toast.