They teach you this in Little League.
“Don’t make the third out at third base,” says a father coaching the team of kids young enough to not yet realize that their dreams of making it to the major leagues are probably far fetched.
Occasionally, though, those players make it to Major League Baseball.
And every so often, they have a chance to consider whether to stretch a double into an attempted triple.
In the case of New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells, the scene was particularly dramatic, and somehow, he forgot the cardinal sin of the third out at third base.
Setting the Scene
When Wells stepped to the plate with two outs in the top of the eighth inning in Tampa Bay against the Rays, the Yankees didn’t yet have a hit in ALDS Game 1.
Drew Rasmussen was throwing the game of his life on the mound for the Rays.
Despite that, it was just a one-run game. A solo homer by Jonathan Aranda in the third inning had been the game’s only run.
So the Yankees needed only one run to tie this game.
Wells stepped in, a chance to be the hero, and instead wrote the script in the opposite direction.
Austin Wells Mistake
Wells, finally, got the Yankees into the hit column. He laced a ball down the right field line, barely fair, and into the corner.
With a catcher running, everyone assumed it was a double, except for the Rays’ defense. Right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. played the ball as if Wells might try to take an extra base.
And for some reason, Wells tried to take the extra base.
Mesa, and his cutoff man Taylor Walls, are two of the best fielders in baseball. And besides — you can’t make the third out at third base.
Alternate camera angles even reveal that the Yankees’ third base coach was holding Wells up. He wanted him to stop at second.
Yes, the 9-spot was due up next, but the Yankees had Giancarlo Stanton on the roster for this specific purpose. He could pinch hit and try and drive Wells (or a pinch-runner) in from second base.
But Wells didn’t stop. He rounded second, heading for third, committing a potential cardinal sin.
Mesa’s throw to Walls was on the money. Walls’ throw to Junior Caminero was on the money.
Adding insult to injury, Wells got tagged out up high, a knock to the face making the moment worse.
Instead of a runner in scoring position and two outs, the Yankees’ first hit of the game had been erased before another batter could come to the plate.
No, it’s not a given that the Yankees would’ve driven Wells home, but they would’ve had a chance.
Being on third with two outs doesn’t have the benefit of less than two outs. A fly ball or ground ball out don’t score the runner with two outs, because the inning is over.
That’s why being on second, rather than risking the out, is totally fine there.
Wells hadn’t listened to that lesson, or apparently learned how to pick up his third base coach. And it cost the Yankees dearly.
Austin Wells Mistake Costs Yankees ALDS Game 1