Phoenix, AZ (Best E Casino) - Mark Reynolds homered and finished with three hits and three RBI to lead the
Arizona Diamondbacks past the
Pittsburgh Pirates, 13-7, in the first game of a three-game set at Chase Field.
Stephen Drew drove in a pair of runs for the Diamondbacks, who won for the first time in three games. Arizona finished with 18 hits and 13 runs, both season highs.
Doug Mientkiewicz homered en route to a three-hit game for the Pirates, who fell to 1-3 on their 10-game, four-city road trip. Pittsburgh, which also received a home run from Jason Michaels, is a mere 19-35 as the visiting club this year.
"We have some young starters, who are going to have the ups and down," said Mientkiewicz. "That's part of the learning process and hopefully each game they pitch, they are going to get better. They learn something new and apply to the next start."
Dan Haren (12-5) earned the victory after yielding four runs on eight hits, while striking out eight in six innings. Arizona has won 10 of his last 12 starts.
"His (Haren) stuff was good, maybe not the command we are used to seeing," said Arizona manager Bob Melvin. "He hung a few more balls than he normally does, other than that, I thought his stuff was good. He seems be able to get better as the game goes along if he doesn't have great stuff early on."
Jason Davis (1-1) suffered the loss after allowing two runs on four hits and one walk in 3 2/3 innings.
Pittsburgh's Yoslan Herrera took the no-decision. The 27-year-old was tagged for three runs on four hits and three walks in only 1 1/3 innings. Herrera was optioned back to Double-A Altoona after the game.
Arizona trailed 4-3, but it posted two runs in the fifth and led the rest of the way. Orlando Hudson drew a lead-off walk and came around one batter later on a double to center by Conor Jackson. Jackson moved to third on a groundout hit by Chad Tracy and eventually crossed the plate with two outs thanks to an Alex Romero base hit.
Jackson then smacked an RBI single in the sixth to extend the Arizona edge to 6-4. Drew scored on the two-out hit after he singled and stole second.
Each team scored in the seventh on solo home runs to make it a 7-5 affair. Michaels belted his seventh of the year for the Pirates, while Reynolds collected his 23rd of the campaign for the home team.
The Diamondbacks blew the game open with six runs in the eighth as they batted around. Hudson led off with a double and Jackson followed with a walk. Hudson raced home as Augie Ojeda dropped a bunt single and Jackson crossed the plate via a single by Reynolds. After a strikeout, Chris Young walked to load the bases and to make matters worse, John Grabow walked Chris Snyder to force in Ojeda. Tony Clark then drove in Reynolds and Young with a ground-rule double and Snyder raced home on a wild pitch by Grabow.
The Pirates got two runs off of Brandon Lyon in the ninth to make it 13-7, but it was too little, too late. Freddy Sanchez drove in Jose Bautista with a single and Michaels touched the plate on an RBI single by Nate McLouth.
The Pirates opened up the scoring with three runs in the first. Sanchez led off with a single and moved to second two batters later on a one-out hit by McLouth. Sanchez came around as Ryan Doumit followed with a single to left, and then with two outs Brandon Moss doubled in McLouth and Doumit.
In the bottom of the frame, Arizona got one back on an RBI single by Reynolds that plated Drew, who reached on a walk, raced to second on a Hudson base hit and advanced to third on a fielder's choice.
The Diamondbacks tied the contest at 3-3 in the second with a two-run single from Drew.
Mientkiewicz led off the third with his second homer of the season to give the Pirates a one-run edge.
Game Notes
Young hit his fourth triple of the season in the game...Sanchez was in the starting lineup for the first time in seven games as he was suffering with lower back spasms...The last time that Arizona had 18 hits was September 20, 2006 at San Diego...Young's bunt single in the second snapped an 0-18 streak.