Monday, May 30, 2011
Posted: 11:14 a.m.Updated: 11:36 p.m.
The Associated Press
Diamondbacks 15, Marlins 4
BOX SCORE
PHOENIX -- Kelly Johnson homered twice and fell a single shy of the cycle and the steamrolling, first-place Arizona Diamondbacks won their seventh straight, a 15-4 rout of the Florida Marlins on Monday night.
Johnson, with a double and triple, tied a franchise record with four extra-base hits.
Justin Upton tied his career best by going 5 for 5 -- including a two-run homer into the upper deck -- and Miguel Montero matched his career high with five RBIs, including a three-run homer, as the Diamondbacks won for the 13th time in 14 games and 15th in their last 17.
Arizona had 19 hits, one shy of the franchise record for a nine-inning game.
MLB
Joe Saunders (2-5) got his second straight win after opening the season 0-5. Chris Volstad (2-4) took the loss in the Marlins' most one-sided defeat of the season.
The Diamondbacks, in the opener of a seven-game home stand after a 6-1 road trip, stayed one-half game ahead of San Francisco in the NL West after two seasons deep in the division basement.
Gerardo Parra hit the other of Arizona's five home runs.
Johnson, batting .429 in his last eight games after an awful start to the season, became the second player in the majors this year to have four extra-base hits in a game. He hit solo home runs in the third and sixth, doubled in the fourth and tripled in the seventh. He came up in the eighth with a chance to hit for the cycle and struck out.
The Marlins, coming off what had been their most one-sided loss of the season -- 8-0 to the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Sunday -- have given up 23 runs and 36 hits in their last two games. They have lost three of four.
Florida was without three-time All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who left Sunday's game at Los Angeles with stiffness in his lower back.
Saunders allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking two. Volstad gave up five runs and eight hits in 3 1-3 innings with two strikeouts and one walk.
The Diamondbacks scored 10 straight runs after Gaby Sanchez's two-run homer cut the Diamondbacks' lead to 5-4 in the fifth.
Padres 3, Braves 2 (10 Innings)
BOX SCORE
ATLANTA -- Kyle Phillips doesn't know how long he will have to impress Padres manager Bud Black.
Phillips did a good job of it Monday against Atlanta.
The rookie catcher broke a 2-all tie in the 10th inning with a pinch-hit homer and the Padres held off Atlanta 3-2 Monday for their third straight win.
"It's a huge deal," Phillips said. "I've been in the minors leagues. I've spent a little bit of time in the big leagues. I've been released a few times and for me to
Phillips, who has a .167 average in 30 at-bats, is on the 25-man roster as Rob Johnson's backup while Nick Hundley recovers from a strained muscle in his right side.
He led off the 10th by hitting the second pitch from George Sherrill (1-1) into the right-field seats.
"He threw me a breaking ball that he left up a little bit, and I just put a good swing on it," Phillips said. "It's really nice to do it for the Padres. They're my hometown team, the team I grew up watching."
Heath Bell pitched the 10th for his 13th save in 14 opportunities. Chad Qualls (3-2) earned the victory with a scoreless ninth, giving up one walk and facing four batters.
For a fourth straight start, San Diego's Aaron Harang didn't earn a decision, but he was sharp, allowing six hits, two runs and two walks with five strikeouts.
Black credited Harang's nine-pitch fourth inning in helping him go six full inning and lower his ERA over his last three starts to 1.29.
"I think earlier in the game, his secondary pitches (breaking balls) weren't consistently in the strike zone," Black said. "It kept him deep in the count It kept him behind in the count. In the last three, he pitched better. He threw them for strikes."
Mets 7, Pirates 3
BOX SCORE
NEW YORK -- Josh Thole hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning and the depleted New York Mets, playing with a makeshift lineup minus Jose Reyes, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 on Monday night.
Dillon Gee (5-0) pitched seven solid innings, striking out a career-high eight in the rookie's latest impressive outing, and New York had another productive day at the plate.
The Mets banged out a season-high 17 hits Sunday to prevent a three-game sweep by Philadelphia, then followed up with 15 against starter Charlie Morton and the Pirates.
This time, New York did its damage with only three regulars in the lineup for the opener of a four-game series. Reyes was placed on the bereavement list earlier in the day and left fielder Jason Bay was given a planned day off.
The only regular starters in the lineup were Thole, right fielder Carlos Beltran and center fielder Angel Pagan. Third baseman David Wright and first baseman Ike Davis are on the disabled list.
No problem, apparently. Daniel Murphy had three hits for the second consecutive day, while Pagan and fill-in shortstop Ruben Tejada also had three singles apiece.
Chris Snyder hit a two-run homer in the second inning for the Pirates, who dropped to 0-8 at Citi Field. He helped give back those runs, however, with a pair of passed balls in the bottom half.
With the score tied at 3, Beltran drew a four-pitch walk from Daniel McCutchen (1-1) to start the seventh. Murphy followed with a single and, one out later, Thole doubled home both runners with a drive to deep right-center.
The young catcher clapped his hands after rounding first base, and the Mets had a 5-3 lead. Thole matched his career high with three RBIs on Saturday -- after beginning the day batting .182 with runners in scoring position.
McCutchen entered with a 0.40 ERA, the lowest among NL relievers.
Jason Isringhausen pitched a perfect eighth for the Mets and Francisco Rodriguez worked a scoreless ninth -- with help from Pagan, who made a terrific catch just in front of the fence near the 415-foot marker to rob Neil Walker of extra bases.
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