DENVER (AP) -Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki turned a rare unassisted triple play, and the Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves 9-7 Sunday on Matt Holliday’s two-run homer in the 11th inning.
Kelly Johnson and Edgar Renteria singled for Atlanta in the seventh and were running on a 3-2 pitch when Tulowitzki caught Chipper Jones’ line drive behind second base. The rookie stepped on the bag to double up Johnson and then tagged Renteria for the third out.
Apparently unsure if he had completed the play properly, Tulowitzki went back and touched second again, then threw to first. Nothing to worry about – the inning was already over.
It was the 13th unassisted triple play in major league history and first since Rafael Furcal did it for the Braves on Sept. 10, 2003, against the Cardinals.
It also was the second triple play in the Rockies’ 13-year history. The first happened April 10, 2003, against St. Louis.
Philadelphia turned the only other triple play in the majors this season against Cincinnati on April 21.
The Rockies rallied to avoid a three-game sweep. They scored twice in the ninth against closer Bob Wickman to tie it at 7. Holliday had an RBI infield single and Brad Hawpe drove in the tying run with a groundout.
Todd Helton drew his club-record fifth walk from Steve Colyer (0-1) in the 11th before Holliday homered to center. Denny Bautista (1-0) worked a scoreless inning for the win.
Scott Thorman went 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs for Atlanta.
Phillies 6, Marlins 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Jamie Moyer took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and combined with two relievers for a four-hitter in Philadelphia’s win over Florida.
Moyer had faced the minimum 20 batters when Miguel Cabrera broke up the no-hitter with a two-out double in the seventh. The hard liner went over third baseman Abraham Nunez’s glove and down the left-field line. Moyer got Josh Willingham to line out softly to end the inning.
Moyer (3-1) struck out five and walked two in 7 1-3 shutout innings. He also went 2-for-3 with a double.
Jayson Werth made a key defensive play in left field and had a two-run single for the Phillies, who have won seven of their last nine games.
The 44-year-old Moyer mixed up a fastball that topped out at 82 mph with an array of cutters, changeups and curveballs. He retired the first nine batters he faced.
Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the first against Wes Obermueller (1-1). Jimmy Rollins singled, stole second and scored on Chase Utley’s RBI single.
Mets 1, Nationals 0
WASHINGTON (AP) – John Maine pitched seven sharp innings and Carlos Beltran homered for one of New York’s three hits in a victory over Washington.
Maine (4-0) struck out a career-high eight and allowed three hits in lowering his ERA to 1.35.
Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis and Billy Wagner finished the six-hitter. Schoeneweis got out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the eighth by getting Ryan Church to ground out to first, and Wagner pitched the ninth for his fourth save in four chances.
Beltran’s fifth homer came off starter Jason Bergmann (0-2) with one out in the sixth on a high-and-away 0-1 pitch.
The Mets never got much going against Bergmann, who is still searching for his first major league win since Sept. 15, 2005, despite a 2.79 ERA this year. He lasted seven innings, striking out six and walking three, before being lifted for a pinch hitter.
Brewers 3, Astros 1
HOUSTON (AP) – Geoff Jenkins homered and Claudio Vargas pitched out of bases-loaded jams in three straight innings to lead Milwaukee past Houston.
Tony Graffanino and J.J. Hardy also drove in runs for the Brewers, who won a three-game series in Houston for the first time since 1997, when the Astros still played in the Astrodome.
Vargas (2-0) gave up four hits and five walks in five shutout innings, toughening up whenever the Astros threatened to score. Francisco Cordero shut out Houston in the ninth for his 10th save in 10 chances this season.
The Brewers have won eight of their last 11.
Woody Williams (0-4) allowed five hits and walked two, losing for the second time in two starts as an Astro in his hometown. He got no help from Houston’s offense one day after the Astros snapped a seven-game skid with a 10-1 victory.
Reds 9, Pirates 5
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Edwin Encarnacion’s bases-loaded triple keyed Cincinnati’s comeback from an early three-run deficit and Aaron Harang settled down to maintain his dominance of Pittsburgh.
Adam Dunn added a two-run homer and Brandon Phillips drove in two runs as the Reds, losers of seven of nine after a 3-1 defeat Friday, bounced back to win the final two games of the series.
The NL’s weakest-hitting team going into Saturday night’s game, the Reds scored 17 runs and had 25 hits in their next two games, including an 8-1 victory Saturday.
Harang (4-0) benefited from the offensive support, even contributing a run-scoring single in a five-run fourth that turned a 4-1 Reds deficit into a 6-4 lead. The big inning came against starter Paul Maholm (1-3), who was coming off a three-hit shutout of the Astros on Tuesday that was easily the best start of his three-season career.
Diamondbacks 5, Giants 4
PHOENIX (AP) – Orlando Hudson hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh inning and Arizona won its fifth straight with a victory over San Francisco.
Hudson went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Brandon Medders (1-0) earned the victory with a scoreless seventh inning.
Randy Johnson, making his second start since October back surgery, allowed two earned runs and seven hits in six innings for the Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks lost five in a row before the winning streak. They completed a three-game sweep of San Francisco one week after the Giants swept them in the Bay Area. The Giants had won eight straight entering the series.
Barry Bonds pinch hit with one out in the ninth for the Giants and drew a walk from Brandon Lyon. Pinch-hitter Ryan Klesko followed with a base hit and Randy Winn singled to load the bases. Lyon responded by getting Omar Vizquel to foul out and retiring Rich Aurilia on a popup to shortstop for his first save.
Ray Durham went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for the Giants.
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