Baseball, by the Rules
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Bunt into a Tag at Third
The batter lays down a bunt, a fielder gets to the ball, but instead of going for the sure out at first base, they decide to go after a runner going from second to third. In this case, the runner is not forced— there is no runner on first— which means that to complete the play, the runner will have to be tagged out. If the tag is applied in the middle of the base path, then there’s little drama involved, but if the tag happens as the runner is sliding into the base, then things can get a little more interesting; the runner can employ certain moves to try to avoid the tag, while even if the fielder misses that tag the first time, if they keep the tag applied and the runner either slides past the base or pops off of it just a little bit, they can be called out1.
Sometimes, if the ball gets to the base well in advance of the runner, said runner may just try to run back to second. Since the runner isn’t being forced to third, that’s fine, but it can lead to something like this:
This type of play is called a “rundown,” although if you’re more whimsically-minded, you can also call it a pickle. On a rundown, the fielders will generally try to get two sets of players on either end, who will throw the ball back and forth while getting closer to the runner, to eventually get the tag. The runner, meanwhile, can always try to avoid the tag, but they can’t run too far out of the way to do so, or they will be called out for leaving the basepath. Most rundowns are over in a couple of throws, but as always, there are exceptions.
Once the runner has been called out (or safe) at the base, the play is still nominally alive, and if the runner now on first tries to get to second, the defense can make a play on them. This rarely happens unless there’s a rundown, in which case the trailing runner can try to sneak their way to second base— but of course, if the defense is on the ball, they can go for that tag out as well, and sometimes that leads to… another rundown. Except now the runner on third can break for home, and if the defense is paying attention well enough, they can try to get that runner out again, and that can lead to… another rundown. In other words, rundowns can be an excellent source of chaos.
After everything calms down, the batter whose bunt kicked this whole thing off is charged with a fielder’s choice (as the fielder who made the initial throw to third, rather than to first, made a choice to attempt to get that specific out. Depending on how the play unfolds, results can vary from none of the runners being out, to at least one being out but there still being a runner on at first, to multiple outs being collected, potentially ending the inning2.