Tulowitzki records Rockies' 2nd unassisted triple play

Rockies 9, Braves 7

DENVER (AP) -- Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki left nothing to chance on his unassisted triple play Sunday.

Kelly Johnson and Edgar Renteria singled for the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning and were running on a 3-2 pitch when Tulowitzki caught Chipper Jones' line drive behind second base. The rookie stepped on the bag to double up Johnson and then tagged Renteria for the third out.

Apparently unsure if he had completed the play properly, Tulowitzki went back and touched second base again, then threw to first. Nothing to worry about -- the inning was already over.

It was the 13th unassisted triple play in major league history and first since shortstop Rafael Furcal did it for Atlanta on Sept. 10, 2003, against St. Louis.

"It's amazing," Tulowitzki said. "It kind of just fell in my lap."

The Rockies avoided a three-game sweep when Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning for a 9-7 victory.

Tulowitzki also turned the second triple play in the Rockies' 13-year history. The first happened April 10, 2003, against the Cardinals.

Philadelphia turned the only other triple play in the majors this season against Cincinnati on April 21.

With one out in the 11th, Steve Colyer (0-1) walked Todd Helton, who set a club record with five. Holliday then drove a 2-2 fastball over the fence in center field.

Holliday was hitless in his first four at-bats including grounding into two double plays. He had an RBI infield single in the ninth.

"You have stay on the fastball with him," Holliday said. "In the back of your mind, you know he uses his off speed, but you can't come off the fastball against a guy throwing that kind of velocity."

Colyer could only shrug his shoulders.

"This time he beat me," Colyer said. "I thought I located the pitch low enough, right at the knee, and he went down and got it."

Denny Bautista (1-0) worked a scoreless 11th for the win.

"I haven't had time to file this one away," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "We needed the win like a hog needs slop."

"We had a lot of people out there throwing different things out there, we had an unassisted triple play, a couple of big double plays, some big hits, a ninth-inning rally to tie it up, Bautista gets the win after just getting here today."

Scott Thorman homered and drove in a career-best four runs with a career-best four hits for the Braves.

Thorman was 4-for-4 with his second homer of the year and an intentional walk. He had a two-run single in the three-run sixth inning when the Braves tied the game at 5.

"I was in my comfort zone today," Thorman said. "I went up looking for pitches and got the pitches I was looking for.

Kyle Davies gave up four runs on five hits over four innings and is winless in six starts over two seasons. His last win came Sept. 18, 2006.

Trailing 5-2, Atlanta tied it at 5 in the sixth inning when Thorman followed hits by Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones with a two-run single to right. Ryan Langerhans drove in a run with a deep fly to center.

Jeff Francoeur doubled to right, but Jamey Carroll's relay throw got Andruw Jones at the plate. After Manny Corpas intentionally walked Thorman, third baseman Garrett Atkins misplayed Brayan Pena's grounder, allowing Francoeur to score from third and give the Braves a 6-5 lead.

The Braves added a run in the ninth on a one-out RBI single by Renteria.

But closer Bob Wickman couldn't hold the 7-5 lead as he walked Willy Taveras and Tulowitzki to start the Colorado ninth. One out later, Helton walked to load the bases. Holliday drove in a run with an infield single and Tulowitzki scored on Brad Hawpe's ground out.

"There has to be a concern when you walk that many people," Wickman said about his blown save. "I couldn't get the ball to the plate."

Colorado starter Aaron Cook went six innings, giving up five runs and nine hits. He hasn't won since beating San Diego on Aug. 27, 2006.

Thorman hit an opposite field home run to left with two outs to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Taveras slapped a single to right with the bases loaded to score two runs and Tulowitzki tripled past third base to drive in two more in the Colorado second inning to make it 4-1.

Andruw Jones doubled into the corner in left with one out in the fourth inning. One out later, Thorman drove him in with a single to right. Hawpe homered to right, his first of the year, off Oscar Villarreal in the fifth inning to make it 5-2.

"Thorman played great today and we can't play much better than we played today," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "I thought we had a great game going."

Game notes
Langerhans, who snapped an 0-for-29 skid with a third-inning double, was traded to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. ... Colorado RHP Rodrigo Lopez threw off a mound for the first time since going on the DL April 19. ... Holliday has a 12-game hitting streak. ... Atlanta called up OF Willie Harris from Triple-A Richmond.