Unassisted triple play helps Phillies’ Martinez beat Mets in return to New York

Unassisted triple play helps Martinez beat Mets

NEW YORK — Pedro Martinez was anxiously watching the Phillies lead dwindle on a television in the clubhouse when Eric Bruntlett put an end to his worries with an unassisted triple play.

Bruntlett became the second player in major league history to get the final three outs on one play without any help, preserving Philadelphia’s 9-7 win over the Mets and making Martinez a winner in his return to New York on Sunday.

“I was thinking it was going to be first and third, one run scored,” Martinez said. All of a sudden I see Bruntlett moving around.

“It was really shocking,” Martinez added.

Shocking as that play was, it was just the culmination of a game of crazy occurrences.

Making his first start against the Mets since signing with Philadelphia on July 15, Martinez made his first appearance on the field — as a batter.

The Phillies scored six times in the first inning off Oliver Perez on three-run homers by Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz. Perez didn’t get his first out until he threw his 29th pitch.

The Citi Field crowd of 39,038 stood and cheered as Martinez walked to the plate in the Phillies’ road gray-and-red uniform, a jarring sight for sure after he spent the previous four years with the Mets.

“The ovation, that’s exactly the response I expected because of the mutual bond I have here,” Martinez said. “I respect them and I love them.”

Martinez worked the count to 3-0 and Mets manager Jerry Manuel came out to remove Perez, bothered recently by a tender right knee that sidelined him earlier this season. The move got a loud ovation, and Perez (3-4) was soundly booed as he walked off the field having thrown 47 pitches — 20 strikes — and getting just two outs.

“I’ve never seen something like that,” said Martinez, who gave up four runs in six innings. “I know (Perez) didn’t do his job but on a 3-0 count to take him out, it’s kind of weird.”

Nelson Figueroa relieved and struck out Martinez (2-0) to end the 26-minute inning.

Angel Pagan then led off the Mets half with and inside-the-park homer.

His drive to the wall in left-center briefly got stuck under the padding of the wall. Center fielder Shane Victorino threw his hands up, looking for a ground-rule double, as Pagan slowed into third, but second base umpire Rob Drake allowed play to go on and Pagan raced home for his first career inside-the-park homer.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said the issue wasn’t covered when the umpires went over ground rules before the game.

“They never talked about that,” he said.

Pagan, who had only three home runs coming, added another homer for the Mets, handing yet another befuddling defeat. New York has found improbable ways to lose all year: Murphy dropped a fly ball in left field, Ryan Church missed third base while rounding the bag, Castillo flubbed Alex Rodriguez’s ninth-inning popup at Yankee Stadium.

In the top of the ninth, Charlie Manuel was ejected when he objected to the umpires overturning a trap call, ruling Jeff Francouer made the diving catch — taking a triple away from Bruntlett.

“They did the right thing,” Francoeur said.

Closer Brad Lidge took over to start the ninth with a 9-6 lead, and Ryan Howard and Bruntlett made consecutive errors to pull the Mets to 9-7. On the next play, Murphy followed with an infield single up the middle that went off the glove of a sliding Bruntlett, bringing up Francoeur with runners on first and second.

With the runners moving, Francouer hit a sharp liner right at Bruntlett, who was at second to cover. He made the catch, stepped on second and tagged Daniel Murphy for the 15th unassisted triple play in big league history

“I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t know what to do,” Bruntlett said. “The ninth inning was wild. The whole game it seemed was strange.”

In Denver, Ubaldo Jimenez threw eight strong innings, outpitching Tim Lincecum, and Seth Smith hit a two-run homer in the seventh for Colorado. Held hitless by Lincecum for 5 1-3 innings, the Rockies rallied to move three games ahead of San Francisco in the NL wild-card race. Jimenez (12-9) won his sixth straight decision for Colorado, which has taken two of three in a four-games series that concludes Monday night at Coors Field.

The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, Lincecum (12-4) was working on a no-hit bid in the sixth when Todd Helton singled off the glove of shortstop Edgar Renteria. Brad Hawpe walked with two outs and Ian Stewart’s RBI single cut the Giants’ lead to 2-1.

In San Diego, John Smoltz had a brilliant debut with St. Louis, striking out a season-high nine — including seven straight — and holding San Diego to three hits over five scoreless innings.

Albert Pujols hit his 40th homer, a leadoff shot to right in the fourth. It was the fifth time he’s hit 40 homers and the first since 2006, when he hit a career-high 49.

Smoltz (1-0) signed with the Cardinals on Wednesday after he cleared waivers following his release from the Red Sox. Ryan Franklin earned his 32nd save in 34 chances.

In Los Angeles, Jake Fox went 4 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs, and the Cubs rallied to avert a four-game sweep.

The Cubs avoided being swept in a four-game series in Los Angeles for the first time since 1965 while closing out their West Coast trip with a 2-5 record. They return to Wrigley Field having lost 12 of 18 overall.

Ryan Dempster (7-7) allowed one run and three hits in seven-plus innings.

In Atlanta, Brian McCann hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning and matched a career high with five RBIs, leading the Braves to the win.

McCann finished with three hits, including a three-run homer in the first.

In Houston, Ryan Roberts matched a career high with four hits, helping Arizona end a season-high seven-game skid.

Augie Ojeda added two hits and a pair of RBIs for the Diamondbacks, who also ended a season-long nine-game road skid.

Jon Garland (7-11) went six innings and allowed four runs and 10 hits, and the bullpen got the game to Chad Qualls, who worked the ninth for his 23rd save.

In Washington, Ryan Zimmerman, Cristian Guzman and Adam Dunn homered to help Nationals end a five-game skid.

Rookie right-hander Craig Stammen (4-6) allowed three runs and five hits over 6 1-3 innings to win for the first time in six starts.

In Pittsburgh, Homer Bailey tossed seven sharp innings and Cincinnati ended Pittsburgh’s five-game winning streak.

Bailey (3-4) allowed one run and four hits, retiring his final eight batters to help the Reds win for only the second time in nine games. Cincinnati also improved to 10-26 since the All-Star break.