Colorado Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu (9) turns a double play on A.J. Pollock #11 of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third inning at Coors Field on Sept. 1, 2015 in Denver. (Doug Pensinger, Getty Images)
In an otherwise sleepy ninth inning Tuesday at Coors Field, the Rockies turned a suddenly exciting triple play.
With Jason Gurka pitching, Arizona’s Ender Inciarte doubled to lead off. Then Gurka walked Phil Gosselin.
Paul Goldschmidt then lined out to Jose Reyes. The shortstop threw to DJ LeMahieu at second to double off Inciarte, then he threw to Ben Paulsen at first to get Gosselin.
“It was a perfect storm,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “Two runners were in motion. That’s how you draw it up.”
It seemed like everybody involved was caught by surprise. The play unfolded like it was in slow motion and the crowd responded right as Paulsen caught the third out.
“That was fun,” Reyes said. “It doesn’t happen very often. But it was a perfect situation. I’m surprised a little bit that they were running with nobody out. They were winning the game. Maybe it doesn’t matter for them at that point.”
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It was the fourth triple play in Rockies history. On May 18 against San Diego last season, Nolan Arenado and LeMahieu .
The Rockies turned their first triple play on April 10, 2003, against the Cardinals at Coors Field. That play was turned by first baseman Todd Helton and shortstop Jose Hernandez.
The most famous Rockies triple play came on April 29, 2007. Troy Tulowitzki earned an unassisted gem against the Braves at Coors Field when he got all three outs at second base.
Tags: Ben Paulsen, DJ Lemahieu
