Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Biscuits whip up club's first triple play

Rays' Padlo, Gray, Kelly go around the horn in fifth inning of win
Tristan Gray helped complete the circuit's first triple play since Montgomery was victimized by Chattanooga last May. (Brian McLeod/MiLB.com)
May 1, 2019

The Double-A Biscuits have served up the first triple play in their 15-year history.Kevin Padlo, Tampa Bay's No. 28 prospectTristan Gray and Dalton Kelly went around the horn in the fifth inning of Wednesday's 3-1 win over Mobile at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium.

The Double-A Biscuits have served up the first triple play in their 15-year history.
Kevin Padlo, Tampa Bay's No. 28 prospectTristan Gray and Dalton Kelly went around the horn in the fifth inning of Wednesday's 3-1 win over Mobile at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium.

Roberto Baldoquin and Bo Way led off with singles against Biscuits southpaw Josh Fleming. Roberto Peña grounded the first pitch he saw from Fleming to third base.
"As soon as Padlo got it at third and stepped on it [the bag], the excitement [was there]," Gray said. "I was like, 'This is it.' You could kind of see it unfold and you're like, 'Alright, just catch it and get it to the next guy.'"
Padlo stepped on the bag, relayed to Gray to second, who threw on to Kelly at first to complete the trifecta. While Gray didn't have much time to think about it in the moment, it's something he'll never forget.
Gameday box score
"It was something special," the 23-year-old said. "You don't get to be a part of something like that very often, if ever, in your career. So I think it was pretty understood between everybody how awesome it was."
It marked the first triple play turned in the Double-A Southern League since last May 26, when Chattanooga did likewise to Montgomery in an 11-10 loss.

It was also the first one turned by any team Gray's played on his entire life, though he came close last winter with the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League. The Houston native said the Rays like to send a few players Down Under each offseason, and Gray participated with fellow Tampa Bay prospect Carl Chester, an outfielder for Class A Advanced Charlotte. Gray said in one game, the Heat nearly turned a triple play, but the opposing runner was barely called safe.
"It ended up being a bang-bang play and it went the other way," Gray said. "So on this one, I was looking forward to completing one."
Fourth-ranked Rays prospect Jesús Sánchez drove in two runs with a first-inning groundout against Mobile starter Jesus Castillo (0-4) and an RBI single in the fifth against one-time Angels infielder Kaleb Cowart. Kelly had an RBI double off the right-hander earlier in the frame.

Fleming (3-1) allowed one run on seven hits without a walk and seven strikeouts over seven innings, the longest start by a Biscuits pitcher this season.
"Any time Flem goes out there, I know it's gonna be a quick pace, I know he's gonna be in the zone and I have to be ready out there," Gray said. "It was just one of his usual days where he was on and I was trying to make every play I could behind him."
Fleming threw 100 pitches, 70 of them for strikes.

Shlomo Sprung is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @sprungonsports</a