Mets hit into triple play

Ruben Tejada's 18th big-league at-bat was a pretty memorable one last night. Not for the right reason.

Tejada's sharp one-hopper to third base in the second inning turned into a 5-4-3 triple play for the Padres, not only ending a promising inning in which the Mets already had a run in, but putting a little notation in the teams' record books.

It was the 10th triple play the Mets have hit into, the most recent coming on Aug. 23, 2009. That was a much rarer one: the Phillies' Eric Bruntlett turned the 15th unassisted triple play that day, and just the second that ended a game, when he snared Jeff Francoeur's line drive, stepped on second and tagged out Daniel Murphy to end a 9-7 Mets loss.

Tejada's triple play last night was a bit more conventional. With Rod Barajas on second and Francoeur on first, Tejada pulled a pitch from Jon Garland right to Padres third baseman Chase Headley, who was standing right near the bag. He stepped on it for the first out, fired to second for the second and then Lance Zawadzki threw to first to get Tejada by a clear step.

For the Padres, it was the eighth triple play in their history and the first since May 19, 1997.

The Mets turned a triple play on May 19 against the Nationals, started by centerfielder Angel Pagan, who also had an inside-the-park home run in that game.