Triple play highlights split

Amy Sancetta, Associated Press

Cleveland second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera tagged out Marco Scutaro after touching the bag to record two outs and complete an unassisted triple play during the fifth inning of the second game of the Blue Jays-Indians doubleheader Monday. Toronto won 3-0 in 10 innings.

Associated Press

Last update: May 13, 2008 - 12:26 AM

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CLEVELAND – Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history, and it wasn’t enough for the Cleveland Indians to complete a doubleheader sweep.

Shannon Stewart hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, Aaron Hill added a two-run single and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Cleveland 3-0 on Monday night to salvage a split of the doubleheader.

In the first game, Fausto Carmona pitched a five-hitter and Cabrera hit a two-run homer in Cleveland’s 3-0 victory. Carmona earned his second shutout and third complete game in 47 big league starts, outpitching Toronto’s A.J. Burnett.

The nightcap featured terrific pitching performances from Toronto’s Shaun Marcum and Cleveland’s Cliff Lee, who got a big assist from Cabrera in the fifth inning.

With Kevin Mench and Marco Scutaro on with singles, Cabrera made a diving backhand catch of a line drive by Lyle Overbay, touched second base to force Mench and then tagged out Scutaro.

"I was trying to speed up the game," Overbay joked. "I get to go down in history. They can’t take that away from me."

The only miscue by Cabrera was that the 22-year-old didn’t keep the ball. "He flipped it into the stands and right as he did cried out, ‘Oh, no!’ " said first-base coach Luis Rivera, serving as the Venezuelan’s interpreter.

Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki made the last unassisted triple play in the majors, on April 29, 2007, against Atlanta. Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde last turned the trick in the AL, on May 29, 2000, against the Yankees.

This was the record third unassisted triple play by a Cleveland fielder. Indians shortstop Neal Ball made the first one in history, in 1909. Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss turned the only one in the World Series, in 1920 during a Game 5 victory over Brooklyn.

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