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Belisle, Reds outduel Owings, D-backs

Apr 12, 2007 - 5:59 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- A pinch-hit double was the difference between Matt Belisle and rookie Micah Owings.

Belisle pitched six strong innings and Javier Valentin doubled in two runs as the Cincinnati Reds claimed a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had a six-game winning streak.

Belisle (2-0) allowed just one run and three hits in six innings, striking out three and walking one. The 26-year-old righthander bettered his first outing of the season, when he allowed one run and four hits in six innings Friday against Pittsburgh.

"I felt pretty much the same in the first inning as I did in the sixth," Belisle said. "I didn't feel the pressure was on me. The team needed it, it was a good ballgame, we have been playing these guys close. We wanted to win."

Owings (1-1) was nearly as impressive. Making just his second major league start, the righthander pitched six shutout innings before running into trouble in the seventh.

"I just tried to do the best I could each pitch and tried to keep the team in it," Owings said. "I got a fastball that came back over the plate a little bit. I felt good. I just have to take one game, batter, and more importantly one pitch at a time. In the seventh I got into a little jam but couldn't get out of it, but we were still in the ball game."

Rookie Josh Hamilton led off with a double for Cincinnati and Alex Gonzalez singled before Valentin pinch hit for catcher David Ross and laced a double into the right field corner, plating two runs and chasing Owings from the game.

"That is nothing new for me. I am not going to change my approach when I pinch-hit," Valentin said. He (manager Jerry Narron) trusts me and has given me some confidence. I turned out to be a big hit for the team."

The 24-year-old Owings allowed seven hits and struck out five in 6 1/3 innings.

"He threw the ball great but he just got outpitched. The other guy threw the ball a little bit," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "Take nothing away from how he pitched tonight. That is going to win you a lot of games pitching like that."

Hamilton, a former top draft pick who has been out of baseball the last three years because of drug problems, made the Reds as a fourth outfielder after a strong spring. He smacked his second homer in as many days in the eighth inning off Brandon Medders.

"It is still hard for me to describe how much fun it is to be here and how fun it is even to get out," Hamilton said. "I feel so blessed to be here it really is hard to describe. I got a fastball that was just outside of the path."

Arizona threatened in the ninth, but Cincinnati closer David Weathers got Conor Jackson to ground out with a runner on second to end the game and earn his third save.

Orlando Hudson and Chad Tracy drove in a run apiece for the Diamondbacks, who has a record of 7-3 after their first 10 games, tying the 2000 club for the best start in franchise history.

"We won the series, but when you are playing well you got to get greedy and try to win every game," Melvin said. "We put pressure and ran (hard) during the whole series. We just came out one short."

Cincinnati third baseman Edwin Encarnacion was pulled by manager Jerry Narron in the first inning after he failed to run out a popup.

"I don't care if we lose every game, we are not going to play guys who don't hustle," Narron said. "It is simple as that. I said from day one we will play pitchers if we have to, but if you can not hustle you can not play."