Rafael Furcal made his way into the record books with his unassisted triple play Sunday night. Click to enlarge photo.
photo by Tim Evearitt (file photo)
Braves shortstop Rafael Furcal turned the 12th unassisted triple play in major league history Sunday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Mike Matheny singled to start the fifth inning, and Orlando Palmeiro reached when pitcher Horacio Ramirez threw late to second on his sacrifice bunt. Woody Williams tried to bunt earlier in the at-bat, but the .260-hitting pitcher was allowed to swing away.
With runners on first and second, Furcal made a leaping grab of pitcher Williams' liner. The runners were going on a 1-1 pitch, and Furcal stepped on second base to double up Matheny before tagging out Palmeiro as he made a futile attempt to scamper back to first.
It was the first unassisted triple play in the majors since Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde did it against the New York Yankees on May 29, 2000. It was also the first in Atlanta history -- Ernie Padgett of the Boston Braves turned one on Oct. 6, 1923.
One of the 12 unassisted triple plays in the modern era came in the 1920 World Series, when Indians second baseman Bill Wambsganss did it in the fifth inning of Game 5 against Brooklyn.
The Cardinals have hit into two triple plays this season, also doing it April 10 at Colorado.
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The Braves took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning. Eduardo Perez hit a solo homer off Ramirez to tie the game and Albert Pujols hit a solo shot off John Smoltz (0-2) as Atlanta lost their second consecutive game to the Central Division Cardinals.
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Article on Furcal adapted from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website.