Contact play

The contact play is a base running play in the sport of baseball. It can take place with a runner on third base and/or a runner at second base. Similar to the safety-squeeze play, the runner at third breaks for home as soon as he sees that the batted ball is on a downward plane for a ground ball. If there is a runner at second base, he will also break for third if the batted ball is on the first base side of second. The play can backfire if the ball is hit directly at the third baseman or the pitcher as a putout will naturally be made at home plate to prevent the run from scoring. In this situation, the baserunner may freeze and return to third. At this point the runner at third's objective changes from scoring to getting in a rundown in order to provide an opportunity for the batter to end up second base.

The play is normally used when there are two outs and the infield is playing at their regular positions (back). If the infield is playing in, the play is normally not used as the infielders can just throw home and easily cut off the run.