Don’t let Elvis Andrus’ often unusual antics fool you. He’s a smart guy and he’s always thinking of ways to stay ahead of the competition. Case in point, Andrus used a perfectly timed trick to outmaneuver Mike Trout during the Rangers 2-1 win against the Angels on Friday night.

It happened in the ninth inning after Trout led off with a single. With Texas holding that one run lead and Albert Pujols at the plate, Andrus knew his team would be better off with Pujols on the bases rather than Trout. That’s why when Pujols popped the ball up into shallow centerfield, which is well within Andrus’ range, he let it drop in front of him.

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At first, it may have seemed like the Rangers shortstop had a brain cramp, but it was really all part of his plan. Once the ball dropped, he quickly gathered it and threw to second to force out Trout knowing that he couldn’t venture too far away from first base without risking being doubled off. It’s that very reason why the Infield Fly Rule was first started. Fielders would have incentive to do this on every pop up otherwise, but that rule is only applied with runners on first and second or with the bases loaded, when multiple runners could be forced out.

The smart play worked in two ways for the Rangers. First, the speedy Trout was off the bases. Second, the Angels ended up replacing Pujols with the much faster Rafael Ortega, but that also meant Pujols’ bat was lost had the game continued into extra innings. That’s some pretty good forward thinking that helped better the Rangers chances for a win.

Elvis Andrus can’t help but smile after forcing out Mike Trout in creative fashion. (MLB) More

In the end, the heads up play didn’t really factor into the outcome. Rangers’ closer Sam Dyson retired C.J. Cron and Andrelton Simmons to end the game, but Andrus’ awareness should still be acknowledged.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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