HOUSTON — The Miami Marlins turned the first triple play of the 2026 season Tuesday night at Daikin Park, erasing a budding Houston Astros rally in the eighth inning on a play that took just seconds to complete.
Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes led off the eighth with back-to-back singles before Jose Altuve grounded a 1-0 pitch from reliever Zach Brzykcy to shortstop Leo Jiménez, who stepped on third base for the first out. Jiménez fired to Xavier Edwards at second for the second out, and Edwards turned and threw to first baseman Kyle Stowers, who hauled in the ball with inches to spare as catcher Joe Mack threw his arms up in celebration.
“It’s cool to be a part of,” Stowers said. “It’s one of those moments that you don’t see a whole lot on the baseball field. Even though my end of the play was probably the easiest, it was cool to be a part of.”
Stowers said he initially expected a double play when the ball was hit. “When it was hit to [Jiménez], I was anticipating him to tag [third base] and throw to me,” Stowers said. “Then, I saw him throw it to X, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have a chance at this.’”
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough praised the sequence. “Brzykcy comes in and gets the big triple play,” McCullough said. “I always try to take away some good things no matter what. To see that in person there, for it to be spun around like that, great play.”
The play was only the second triple play in Marlins franchise history. The first came on July 28, 2002, at the then-Montreal Expos on a line drive by Vladimir Guerrero. The last triple play turned in the major leagues before Tuesday came when the Angels completed one against the Dodgers on Aug. 12, 2025. For Houston, it was the first triple play the Astros had hit into since Jake Marisnick grounded into one on May 22, 2019, against the White Sox.
“That was really cool,” Mack said. “That was unbelievable. I’d never seen one in person. I was pretty excited. I threw my hands up and was cheering, but it was really cool. Big time to have that happen.”