Diamondback Journal

The Diamondbacks jacked four homers against the Mets en route to a 9-5 win. Three of the homers came in the last two innings, giving the needed boost to lift the Diamondbacks to the win.

Orlando Hudson started the homer parade in the fifth inning, hitting a two out, two run shot. Chris Snyder went deep in the eighth inning. Stephen Drew followed with a two run homer in the ninth. Conor Jackson rounded out the homer streak with a two out solo shot in the ninth.

Drew, Hudson, Jackson, and Snyder all had two in the game.

David Wright had a two run homer for the Mets in the second inning of starter Micah Owings.

Owings lasted just 4.1 innings allowing eight hits and four earned runs, five total. Mets starter John Maine gave up three in five innings, he struck out seven as well.

Chad Qualls picked up the win, his first of the year.

Zach Duke out dueled Randy Johnson and just for the day, was the better left handed pitcher. Duke’s Pirates won 5-3 over Johnson’s Diamondbacks.

Duke fought through six innings allowing just two runs. He gave up five hits and struck out five. Matt Capps picked up his 15th save working the ninth inning.

Johnson struggled to five a groove after the first two innings, giving up runs in every inning from the third through the sixth. He gave up six hits and five runs to the Pirates offense. He also walked five, struggling to find good control in the outing.

Mark Reynolds homered for the second consecutive game, adding to the two he hit yesterday. Reynolds had three hits in the game. Stephen Drew had a homer, his eighth of the year.

The Pirates had seven hits, all singles.

The Pirates got to Doug Davis early, and hard. They put a five spot on the board in the fourth inning, knocking Davis from the game with his worst outing of the year.

Davis gave up all five runs on seven hits and four walks. The Diamondbacks were not able to put together enough of a comeback to win and dropped the game 6-4.

Adam LaRoche had three hits for the Pirates, who had ten as a team.

Mark Reynolds homered twice for the Diamondbacks, making a valiant effort to pull his team back into the game. He now has 13 on the year. He had three RBI’s in the game. Augie Ojeda and Conor Jackson each had two hits for the Diamondbacks as well.

Phil Dumatrait was the beneficiary of the outburst in the fourth inning. He gave up just two runs in 5.2 innings.

Chris Snyder has not had a great year offensively, but lately he has shown signs of heating up. A very nice sign was his sixth homer of the year. The homer came in the top of the ninth and put the Diamondbacks ahead 4-3 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Reliever Juan Cruz was the recipient of Snyder’s heroics, picking up the win in relief. Dan Haren started for the Diamondbacks and was given an early 3-0 lead but could not hold it. He allowed five hits and three runs in seven innings. He also recorded six strikeouts.

Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny gave up three runs in seven innings of work as well. In the first inning against Gorzelanny, the D’backs had RBI’s from Conor Jackson, Chris Young and Mark Reynolds.

Young had two doubles in the game. Nate McLouth had two hits and two RBI’s for the Pirates.

Brandon Webb got back to his winning ways that had eluded him for a short time a couple of weeks ago. He shut down the Pittsburgh Pirates in the teams first meeting of the year, allowing just one run on three hits over seven innings. The Diamondbacks won the game by a score of 3-1.

The Diamondbacks had six hits, spread over six players. Each of the top five hitters in the Arizona lineup had one. Chris Young hit his first triple of the year. Orlando Hudson then brought Young in with a sacrifice fly to left.

Stephen Drew brought home the first run of the game in the second with a clutch two out double that brought in Jeff Salazar. Drew was hitting in the leadoff spot instead of his usual two hole.

The Pirates got their lone run in the sixth against Webb. Freddy Sanchez singled and Jason Bay followed with a double that brought him in. Sanchez had two hits for the Pirates.

Ian Snell took the loss for the Pirates despite striking out nine over just five innings. He gave up five hits and two runs, just one earned. He also walked three.

Brandon Lyon picked up his 13th save of the year.

The Brewers are on a bit of a roll lately. They have won six straight. The Diamondbacks…not so much. They have lost three straight. The finale of the series in Milwaukee was not pretty, the Diamondbacks took a hard 10-1 loss.

The Diamondbacks struggled all game long to get the bats going. The Brewers had no such troubles. They pounded out 14 hits and could have scored way more than 10 in the game. The first inning featured the first three batters reaching base, but Owings struck out Prince Fielder and then got Corey Hart to fly out to deep right and Justin Upton made a great throw to double off Gabe Kapler to end the inning.

Two innings later, in the third, the Brewers blew the gates off the door and the game wide open. They put up four runs, forcing Owings out of the game after that inning. Owings left having allowed eight hits and five runs in just three innings.

Edgar Gonzalez followed, and he fared no better. The Brewers jumped on him for five runs in the fourth inning, all with two outs. The start was when Justin Upton made a diving effort on a Corey Hart liner in right that was just beyond his reach and skipped all the way to wall. By the time the ball was retrieved, Hart had rounded the bases following the two runners before him for an inside the park homer.

Russell Branyan followed and hit a homer over the fence, his fourth of the year.

Ryan Braun had two hits, two runs, and drove in two runs. Gabe Kapler had four hits in five trips to the plate. Hart and Branyan each had two hits as well.

Manny Parra had a great game on the mound. He went seven innings, allowing the Diamondbacks just four hits. He struck out eight and walked just two.

The Diamondbacks made three errors in the game, two by outfielders and one by a pitcher.

Randy Johnson moved into sole possession of second place on the all time strikeout list with his first K of the game. He racked up eight in the game, but still Johnson took the loss 7-1.

Mike Cameron was the batter that swung and missed to give Johnson the K that moved him past Roger Clemens with 4,680. The Diamondbacks managed just six hits in the game. Seth McClung gave up all six hits in just six innings, he walked none and struck out four.

The Brewers hit three homers in the game. Ryan Braun hit his 16th homer of the year off Johnson in the sixth. Prince Fielder hit his tenth, and his second consecutive game with a homer. JJ Hardy rounded out the homers.

Johnson dropped to 4-2 after giving up four runs, three earned, in 6.1 innings. Max Scherzer gave up two of the homers in an inning of relief. He gave up three runs and struck out just one.

The Diamondbacks have now dropped 10 of their last 12 on the road.

Doug Davis put together a solid outing in his third start since returning from surgery. He went six strong innings allowing just one earned run to the Milwaukee Brewers. He walked just two and allowed only six hits.

The Diamondbacks led 3-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, but the Brewers put two runs on the board to tie the game. One inning later, a Prince Fielder homer put the Brewers ahead one and that was the final score at 4-3.

Davis started the seventh inning on the mound but gave up a hit and a walk and was pulled in favor of Chad Qualls. Jason Kendall attempted to move the runners up on a sacrifice bunt, but Qualls made a high throw to first and they were unable to get the out. With the bases loaded, Gabe Kapler was called on to pinch hit.

Kapler chopped a ball to third where Mark Reynolds got the ball and went home to start the double play but his throw was way off the mark and out of Chris Snyder’s reach.

Doug Slaten came in to face Fielder in the next inning, lefty against lefty. Fielder sent the ball into deep center field and gone to put the Brew Crew ahead.

Snyder had the big offensive output for the D’backs, having a homer and a double. His homer was a solo shot in the top of the seventh. He had two RBI’s.

For the Brewers, Fielder led the way with three hits including the huge homer.

The Diamondbacks have now lost nine of their last 11 road games.

Dan Haren and the Diamondbacks bullpen created an impossible combination for the Nationals to solve. Haren left the Nationals scoreline empty over seven innings. He struck out five and gave up only four hits in the game.

The game started off the right way for the Diamondbacks, the first two batters reached base and Orlando Hudson swiftly cleared them with one swing of the bat. Hudson took a 1-1 breaking ball from Shawn Hill and lofted it into deep right center field. Haren never looked back and allowed the Nationals few chances to try to get back into the game.

Chad Tracy added a homer in the third inning, a solo shot.

Chad Qualls and Tony Pena followed Haren, throwing an inning each and neither allowed a hit. Both had a strike out each.

Hill gave up seven hits and five runs in just four innings for the Nationals.

Brandon Webb found himself in a very unfamiliar place. He had lost his previous two starts after reeling off nine straight wins to start the 2008 season. His team was also in unfamiliar territory. The team that was considered the best in the bigs for a period to start the year had lost five straight. Both found the remedy for that problem Saturday.

Webb allowed no chance for this team to lose by preventing the Washington Nationals from scoring any runs. He allowed just six hits in nine innings. Webb had no more than two runners on base in an inning, giving up two hits in the sixth and two hit batters in the fifth.

Webb also rung up eight Nationals and did not walk a batter.

Mark Reynolds provided all the offensive punch needed. He hit his first homer, a 459 foot bomb into deep left center in the second inning and put the Diamondbacks ahead for good. He added another in the seventh inning right after Justin Upton went deep as well. Chris Young put the finishing touches on the solo homer barrage adding his own in the eighth inning.

The Diamondbacks had just seven hits in the game, but with four leaving the yard and Webb’s pitching there was little doubt as to the outcome of the game.

Nationals starter Sean Bergmann went all eight innings against the Diamondbacks. He matched Webb’s eight K’s and no walks. The loss dropped him to 1-2.

Lastings Milledge stole two bases for the Nationals for the second straight day.

The game lasted just an hour and 52 minutes.