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Haren picks up victory over Royals

Jun 19, 2009 - 4:51 AM KANSAS CITY, Mo.(AP) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks don't need any more bad injury news.

With staff ace Brandon Webb returning Thursday to Phoenix to have his sore shoulder examined again, Chris Young pulled up lame with a sore groin on an eighth-inning triple, his career high fourth hit, in the Diamondbacks' 12-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

"We'll know more tomorrow," Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said. "Immediately when it grabbed on his groin he pulled up, which is the right thing to do. His strength was good. His flexibility was good, so hopefully we avoided something (major) and it's just a little scare."

Young, who raised his average from .189 to .204, had a triple and two doubles before hurting his groin.

Gerardo Parra homered, tripled and drove in three runs and Justin Upton contributed three hits, including two doubles, as the Diamondbacks collected a 16 hits, one shy of their season high. Eric Byrnes also homered. Every Diamondbacks starter except Mark Reynolds had at least one hit.

That was more than enough for Dan Haren, who earned his sixth victory in decisions.

"I don't think he was at his best, but he's pretty good when he's not at his best," Hinch said.

Haren (6-4), who has lost only once in his past 11 starts, limited the Royals to two runs on seven hits, while striking out six and walking none in seven innings. Haren's 2.23 ERA ranks second in the National League.

"I felt real good especially early in the game," Haren said. "I had good stuff. It really starts with the offense. I've had plenty of runs the last couple of times out and it really made it pretty easy for me. I just went after the guys."

Parra led off the sixth with a home run off Royals reliever Juan Cruz and had a two-run triple in the third.

"He hits with runners in scoring position and hits with two strikes," Hinch said. "He manages his bat as well as anybody. He was pretty frustrated with himself early (striking out in the first with two runners on) when he didn't get the runner in. It was good to see him take some aggression on the baseball and hit the ball well late in the game."

Royals starter Luke Hochevar, who needed just 80 pitches for a complete-game victory over Cincinnati in his previous start, threw 94 pitches in four-plus innings before being replaced by Jamey Wright.

Hochevar (2-3) gave up seven runs, nine hits and walked two.

"Errors are made, bad pitches are made, but that's why we're on a team," Hochevar said. "An error is made, it's on my shoulders to pick them up and keep the thing rolling. If I make a bad pitch, guys in the field try to make a great play and pick me up. That's what it's all about is picking each other up. You don't frown on errors because errors are going to be made. You just find a way our and pick a team up."

The Royals' poor defense again cost them. Second baseman Alberto Callaspo committed two gaffes and shortstop Willie Bloomquist one as the Royals made six errors in the past two games, running their season total to 50. Only Seattle has more errors in the American League.

"One of the things that sucks the energy out of good pitching is that you don't make the plays behind them," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "It's just a matter of getting all three areas matched up every night as efficiently as possible. One of the biggest concerns for me right now is inefficiency of the bullpen. It hasn't been good."

David DeJesus drove in four of the Kansas City runs and had three hits. DeJesus' double in the third scored Brayan Pena and Mitch Maier for the only runs off Haren. DeJesus added a two-run triple in the Royals' three-run ninth.

Notes: Diamondbacks C Chris Snyder was scratched from the lineup with tightness in his back. ... Diamondbacks RHP Tom Gordon threw a 35-pitch bullpen session, his first time off the mound since going on the disabled list May 4 with a hamstring injury.