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Davis works into eighth inning to lead Diamondbacks

Jun 3, 2007 - 9:19 PM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks are among the best road teams in the National League and only recently has Doug Davis started to contribute to it.

Davis pitched effectively into the eighth inning as the Diamondbacks continued their success away from home with a 4-1 victory over the New York Mets in the rubber game of a three-game series.

The Diamondbacks won for the ninth time in 10 games and went 5-1 on their six-game road trip. They won the first four games of the trip before Saturday's 7-1 loss but Sunday improved to 17-13 away from Chase Field.

"That's a great win right there," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "When you come in here, obviously 4-2, you're going to take that but to go 5-1 on this trip is an outstanding trip."

"To go through Philly and New York, it's huge," Diamondbacks center fielder Eric Byrnes said. "This is probably the best road trip we've had since I've been on this team and to be able to go into Philly and New York (is big). To be able to sweep Philly and take two of three from the Mets in their park, I think it's a big confidence booster for this team."

Davis (4-6) has five of Arizona's road losses but this trip has marked a turnaround of sorts for him. He opened the trip with a stellar outing Monday in Philadelphia, where he allowed one run and scattered seven hits in eight innings of a 5-4 victory.

"I'm just able to control the ball, able not to fall behind," Davis said. "I threw a lot of strikes especially early in the game where I could expand the plate later in the game.

"I just thought I made a little bit of adjustments in keeping my front side in and I was able to execute my pitches. I wasn't able to do that three of four starts ago."

On Sunday, he was even better as the Diamondbacks (34-24) avoided their first losing streak in nearly two weeks and moved 10 games over .500 (for the second time this season.

"He was spectacular both times against lineups that were at the time one and three in the league and this club hitting .325 off lefthanded pitching going into the game," Melvin said. "That's pitching very, very well."

"Davis is throwing the ball well," Byrnes added. "He goes out there and he battles. He's not going to have overpowering stuff but he's one of those guys (I call) and uncomfortable 0-for-4. You think you see the ball great and you're comfortable in there against him. But yet he continues to get you out. He's very similar to even Livan Hernandez from the left side and those are the types of pitchers you want on your team."

The lefthander, who went 1-4 in May, allowed one run and six hits. He matched a season high with seven strikeouts, walked three and threw 111 pitches against a lineup filled with hitters that have struggled against him.

"He threw a lot of strikes," Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca said. "I knew what we were in for today. He was tough. Doug had great stuff today and he really shut us down."

Davis appeared to tire in the eighth as he allowed a leadoff walk to Jose Reyes and fell behind Endy Chavez. Chavez eventually flied out but David Wright singled and Reyes took third on rookie third baseman Mark Reynolds' throwing error.

Davis struck out Carlos Delgado for the third time but walked Lo Duca and was replaced by Tony Pena. Pena left the bases loaded by retiring Damion Easley on a groundout to third. Jose Valverde tossed a hitless ninth for his 20th save in 22 opportunites and 10th in a row.

"He deserved it (to stay in) right there," Melvin said of letting Davis face Lo Duca. "All you got to do is keep him in the park and for me after the Delgado at-bat, he deserved it."

"I felt fine," Davis said of the eighth. "I felt like I could go another 50 pitches. I don't have a problem going out there and throwing a lot of pitches."

For four innings, Davis traded zeros with Mets starter Oliver Perez (6-4), who retired the first nine hitters and did not allow a hit until one out in the fifth when Scott Hairston lined a single to left field, which moved Reynolds to third.

"He lost his rhythm for a second there," Mets manager Willie Randolph said of Perez. "But he pitched pretty well and minimized the damage. He breezed through the first four innings and then started to overthrow a little."

Three pitches later, Carlos Quentin hit an RBI double to right-center field for a 1-0 lead. After Perez hit Chris Snyder to load the bases, Albert Callaspo bounced into a 6-4-3 double play, which scored Hairston.

"His stuff is electric," Byrnes said of Perez. "We knew that coming in. He was tough the first couple of innings. He was throwing a lot of strikes and going right at us. I think he had trouble finding the zone and we were able to take advantage of some walks and then Carlos came up with a big hit. He's one of those guys that we had to wait out."

Perez worked out of further trouble by striking out Davis and allowed a sacrifice fly to Orlando Hudson in the sixth.

The 25-year-old lefthander, who had won his previous three decisions, allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings.

"Sometimes it's going to happen," Perez said of the fifth. "You walk two many guys. After the walks they got base hits twice. All you can do is go on."

Arizona added an insurance run in the eighth as Byrnes extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single, advanced a base on a pair of groundouts and scored on Reynolds' infield single.

The Mets played without Carlos Beltran (knee), who is expected to return for Tuesday's series opener against Philadelphia. Beltran is a respectable 8-for-31 off Davis but some of his teammates have far worse numbers off Davis.

Reyes, who opened the game with a single is 1-for-14 off Davis. Delgado, whose groundout in the sixth, accounted for New York's lone run, is 2-for-20 off Davis.