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Byrnes, Owings help Diamondbacks beat Giants

Apr 22, 2008 - 6:14 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Eric Byrnes blasted a two-run shot and Micah Owings continued his impressive start to the season as the Arizona Diamondbacks edged the San Francisco Giants, 4-2, on Monday night in the opener of a brief two-game series.

Mark Reynolds and Orlando Hudson also homered for the Diamondbacks, who have now won five of their last six contests.

Byrnes gave Arizona a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning when he sent a towering two-run homer over the left-center field wall off San Francisco starter Kevin Correia (1-3).

"Tonight, it was my turn. It was nice that me and (Hudson) contributed. The young guys have been carrying us," Byrnes said. "There are a lot of good baseball players in here. I don't think it is an aberration the way we are playing. This is the type of team that this is. We don't have one superstar, but we have a lot of future superstars."

Owings (4-0), who allowed two runs on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings, has recorded a win in each of his four starts this season.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say that it wasn't nice the way I started - especially after this spring where I scuffled a bit," Owings said. "I am definitely pounding the zone, but I am also mixing my secondary stuff and feel better with both. I feel that my stuff is better then it ever has. I am going to keep on mixing and enjoying."

Owings helped his cause at the plate when he led off the fifth with a base hit to center. After Chris Young flied out, Byrnes connected on the decisive blow of the game when he crushed Correia's first-pitch fastball.

"I thought it was going all the way even though I got under it some," Byrnes said. "It was one of those ones that I hit it exactly on the right spot of the bat, so figured it had enough to get out."

Hudson added an insurance run in the seventh with a solo home run.

After hitting Emmanuel Burriss with a pitch and walking Ray Durham in the seventh, Owings was relieved Chad Qualls, who needed just one pitch to induce an inning-ending double play from Fred Lewis.

"We had some chances, we had the right guy up there, when we grounded into a key double play," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We fought hard, hit some balls good but we had trouble keeping the balls in the ballpark."

Tony Pena tossed a scoreless eighth and Brandon Lyon slammed the door in the ninth for his fourth save of the season.

"This is a good win tonight because we didn't have a real good start," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "It was kind of weird game early on and didn't have a great feel to it then Byrnsy's home run gave us confidence, then the three guys in the bullpen came in their defined roles that they are used to and pitched in the fashions that we expect them to."

The Giants took an early lead in the second frame on Jose Castillo's RBI single, but Reynolds answered with a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 1-1.

Lewis then gave San Francisco a 2-1 edge in the third with his first home run of the season.

Correia lasted six frames, yielding three runs and eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts.