Intentional drop rule
A related rule called the intentional drop rule (Rule 5.09(a)(12)) applies even when second base is unoccupied (so long as first-base is occupied), and applies even when the batted ball is a line drive or a bunt that could be caught on the fly. This rule likewise prevents a fielder from deliberately dropping a ball and thereby achieving a double or triple play. If an umpire invokes this rule, the drop is ruled a catch, the ball is dead, and no baserunner may advance. The rule is not invoked when a fielder plays a ball on a bounce that might have been caught on the fly, or a fielder lets the ball fall to the ground without catching the palm of the mitt, or, in the judgment of the umpire, the ball was mishandled and not cleanly caught.