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D-backs turn three against Dodgers

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By Steve Gilbert / MLB.com

05/05/09 3:09 AM ET

LOS ANGELES -- Josh Wilson atoned for a second-inning error in a big way when the D-backs shortstop started a 6-4-3 triple play one batter later in the second inning Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

"That's got to be redemption at its finest," Wilson said. "That's something you don't see every day. Boot one to get two guys on base and then you come back and get three outs on the next hit. It's something you definitely don't see."

With a runner on first, Wilson booted a routine grounder from Matt Kemp that likely would have been a double play.

The next batter, Casey Blake, scorched a line drive to Wilson's right. Wilson caught the ball on the fly backhand and threw to second baseman Felipe Lopez for one out as runner Russell Martin was all the way to third base. Lopez fired to first to complete the triple play as Kemp was nearly at second.

"The ball was hooking to my right a little bit, it had some spin on it and I was fortunate it stayed in my glove," Wilson said. "I thought for a second it was going to come out, it just kind of snowconed at the end. Once I held on, I knew we were going to get three outs. It was pretty cool."

It was the second triple play turned this season. The Pirates accomplished the feat against the Reds on April 12. Last season, there were two triple plays turned.

It was the first time that Wilson had been on the field for a triple play, though he said he had a chance to turn one when he was with the Blue Jays. At that time he was playing third base, and there were runners on first and second when a hard grounder was hit to him. He stepped on third, but his throw to second was in the dirt, ending the chance for the triple play.

When he got back to the dugout after the play, his teammates told him what he should have done was hang on to the ball, step on second himself and tag Kemp so that he would have had an unassisted triple play.

"That's what they all said," Wilson said "That just never crossed my mind. I thought I heard Felipe saying, 'Throw it, throw it,' and knew that we had the chance to get the outs there. That's something I don't think too many guys out there would think about."

It marked the second time in franchise history that the D-backs turned a triple play. The other came against the Cardinals on May 31, 2000, in the fifth inning at Chase Field. Mark McGwire lifted a fly ball to center in that game that Steve Finley caught and threw home to nail the runner trying to tag up from third. Catcher Damian Miller then threw to shortstop Tony Womack, who was covering third, to get Edgar Renteria, who was trying to advance from second to third.

The last time the Dodgers had a triple play turned against them was on Aug. 4, 1991, against Houston at the Astrodome.

The last time a triple play occurred at Dodger Stadium was June 13, 1998, when the Dodgers turned the trick against the Rockies.

Steve Gilbert is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.