White Sox turn second triple play of season

The White Sox did it again.

For the second time in 2016, they turned a triple play, this time in more “conventional” fashion, as manager Robin Ventura put it, in the eighth inning of their 5-3 loss to the Houston Astros Wednesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Whereas the first, on April 22 against the Texas Rangers at U.S. Cellular Field, involved five Sox players and was the first 9-3-2-6-2-5 triple play in history, this one was a straight around the horn effort by third baseman Todd Frazier, second baseman Brett Lawrie and first baseman Jose Abreu.

Frazier fielded George Springer’s ground ball near the bag to get it started. He said Springer’s ball hit foul first and “ricocheted” fair, which may have caused Springer to hesitate out of the box.

“It’s a pretty easy hop for me, and I’m not second-guessing,’’ Frazier said. “Just going for two and then getting the one there [at first].’’

Left-hander Dan Jennings had walked Tony Kemp and Jose Altuve on a total of nine pitches to put runners on first and second. He said he thought Frazier was “nuts” for going to second instead of first.

“It sucks to lose, and that’s the end result,’’ Jennings said. “But something like that makes the game fun.’’

The last team to turn two triple plays in a season was the 2007 Philadelphia Phillies. The Sox did it last in 2006. The Sox are the first team since the 1978 Astros to turn two triple plays in the first two months of a season.