L.A. turns triple play

LOS ANGELES—Matt Kemp called it “very weird.” Chase Headley described it as a “crazy occurrence.”
Nearly everyone was shaking their heads after the L.A. Dodgers turned a bizarre triple play in the top of the ninth inning before Dee Gordon singled home the winning run in the bottom half of a 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres yesterday.

It was 4-4 when the Dodgers turned their first triple play since June 13, 1998 against Colorado.
Chris Denorfia led off with a single against Javy Guerra (1-0) and Headley walked. Jesus Guzman then squared to bunt, but the pitch came high and tight and hit his bat as he backed away.
The ball landed in front of the plate, and catcher A.J. Ellis alertly picked it up and threw to third.
“I was very confident I heard it hit the bat. I didn’t hear anything from the umpire behind me,” Ellis said.
Guzman, startled by what happened, didn’t run to first base, which made it easy for third baseman Juan Uribe to relay to shortstop Gordon at second base.
In turn, he threw to James Loney to complete the triple play.
The Dodgers improved to 9-1—the best mark in the major leagues and equalling their best start since opening the 1981 season with the same record.
Kemp hit his fourth homer in three games as the Dodgers sent San Diego to its fourth loss in a row.
Elsewhere in the NL, Atlanta beat Milwaukee 7-4, Philadelphia dumped New York 8-2, Miami nipped Houston 5-4 (11 innings), Cincinnati topped Washington 8-5 (11 innings), St. Louis pounded Chicago 10-3, Arizona downed Colorado 5-2, and Pittsburgh upended San Francisco 4-1.