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April 19, 2007
In the first two games of the series, when the Blue Jays put the shift on David Ortiz, they moved the third baseman (Jason Smith on Tuesday night; John McDonald on Wednesday night) over to the second-base side of the second-base bag while pushing the second baseman, Aaron Hill, into shallow right in the "hole."
They left the shortstop, Royce Clayton, at short, albeit shaded closer to the bag at second. The reason they did that was because Clayton isn't used to playing on the right side of the bag, while Smith and McDonald are more comfortable over there.
Today, with McDonald replacing Clayton at short in the starting lineup, the Jays shifted in a more traditional way, with the shortstop sliding over to the other side of the bag and the third baseman, Smith, playing "shortstop," near the base.
That alignment resulted in the rare 1-5-3 double play.
With a runner at first and one out, Ortiz hit a one-hopper back to pitch Roy Halladay. Halladay turned and threw to second for the force. Smith took the throw for the out at second and his relay to first easily beat Ortiz for the double play, 1-5-3 in the scorebook.
-- Steven Krasner
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 12:40 PM | Permalink
