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The rule is "inconsistent" in order to prevent an easy sacrifice: R3, less than 2 outs, R3 steals, batter knocks over the catcher. If the batter's out in this case, the sacrifice is too easy. So the rule evolved to call R3 out to prevent this nonsense.
As for the difference between 2 outs and less than 2: the more severe penalty in this case is to call the batter out so that he doesn't lead off the next inning (and no runs can score since he made the 3rd out before reaching 1B).
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Cheers,
mb
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