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Young's homer helps Diamondbacks squeak by Giants

Jun 7, 2007 - 5:53 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Arizona Diamondbacks rookie Chris Young may lack experience, but he already has developed an innate ability to come through in the clutch.

Young broke up a pitchers' duel with a solo home run in the seventh inning as the Diamondbacks kept rolling with a 1-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

The 23-year-old center fielder hit an 0-2 pitch from Matt Morris that bounced off the overhang in center field to help the Diamondbacks win for the 11th time in their last 12 games.

It was the second time in as many nights that Young won a game for Arizona. On Tuesday night, Young's walk-off homer in the 10th inning gave the Diamondbacks a 4-3 victory.

"Very few hits are coming but the big ones are coming," said Young, who had not hit a homer since May 11 before Tuesday. It was just one of those nights where one hit made the difference."

Young said he got the pitch he was looking for from Morris.

"It was a fastball away," Young said. "It was the same pitch that I rolled over a couple of times and grounded out to the shortstop. It was a good pitch but I was looking fastball because his (Morris') curveball was great tonight."

Young's timely homer - his eighth of the season and second in as many nights - helped Brandon Webb (6-3) win his third straight start and sent San Francisco spiraling to its ninth loss in the last 12 games.

Webb allowed just six hits with seven strikeouts in four walks in seven innings. It marked the fourth straight start in which the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner has racked up at least seven strikeouts.

"I felt real strong early," Webb said. "The strikeouts came in the first four innings after that I was relying on the ground balls and the defense. I had to work the last three innings and I think it drained me a bit so I gave it up to (Brandon) Lyon."

Lyon relieved Webb and allowed a leadoff single to Ryan Klesko in the eighth. He rebounded by striking out the next two hitters before unleashing a wild pitch. The righthander ended the frame by getting Pedro Feliz to line out to left, stranding the tying run at second.

Jose Valverde then threw a scoreless ninth for his 21st save in 23 chances for Arizona, which moved to 5-0 at home vs. San Francisco this season - with all five wins coming by one run.

While Webb was outstanding, Morris (6-3) was equally impressive, allowing one run and seven hits with six strikeouts in eight innings. It was the second complete game of the season and 22nd career for the 32-year-old, but it was spoiled by Young.

"The home run was a poor selection and on top of that it was poor location," Morris said. "Those two things are usually a recipe for disaster and in a game like this one bad pitch will cost you."

"It is a shame that Matty had to take a loss there," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "We had our opportunities. We are just not getting it done. What a job Matty did but we are finding ways to lose."

Meanwhile, Webb was able to get the win thanks in part to his defense. Left fielder Eric Byrnes gunned down Ray Durham at home when he attempted to score on a single by Feliz in the sixth inning. The threat was started when Klesko led off with a walk and Durham singled.

However, Klesko got a bad jump of second on a sacrifice attempt by Mark Sweeney and was thrown out at third by Webb.

Feliz then laced a single to left but Byrnes charged and made a good throw home, enabling Chris Snyder to tag Durham on the chest before he could sneak a leg across the plate.

"The way Webby and Matt Morris were pitching, I knew we couldn't afford to give up a run right there," Byrnes said. "It was a do-or-die play and I knew if we got that out right there it would be huge so I decided to take a chance."

Byrnes extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the first inning.

Barry Bonds, who is nine homers shy of Hank Aaron's all-time record, did not start for the second straight day due to shin splits. He appeared as a pinch hitter in the ninth and drew a leadoff walk from Valverde but it did not materialize into anything as the closer struck out Bengie Molina and Randy Winn to end it.

The Diamondbacks improved to 17-6 in one run games this season.

"Early on it had the flavor that runs would be at a premium," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "We have been involved in so many close games we are confident and feel we are going to win them."