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Reynolds, Montero power Diamondbacks to win

Apr 21, 2009 - 5:17 AM PHOENIX (AP) -- After mustering two runs in a three-game trip to San Francisco, the Arizona Diamondbacks needed someone to lift them out of their hitting slump.

Enter Mark Reynolds and backup catcher Miguel Montero.

Reynolds homered and double and Montero hit a three-run homer to lead the Diamondbacks to a 6-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.

"One guy does it, the next guy does it, and the next thing you know the whole confidence in the dugout is up," Reynolds said. "You start putting together some hits and score some runs, and I think if we do that a couple of days in a row, stuff will turn around."

There are no must-wins in April, but the Diamondbacks didn't want to lose sight of the streaking Los Angeles Dodgers. The Diamondbacks entered 5 1-2 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West -- their biggest deficit in the standings since Oct. 1, 2006, when they finished 12 games out of first.

The Diamondbacks find themselves in a hole because they've failed to take advantage of a favorable early schedule, with 18 of their first 21 games in Chase Field. The victory was only Arizona's fourth in 10 home games.

"It's going to come around," Arizona starter Jon Garland (2-1) said. "A team this good, you can't keep us down too long."

Arizona's biggest problem has been at the plate. The Diamondbacks entered with a .215 team batting average, 15th in the NL, and they had more strikeouts (88) than base hits (83).

But with Chase Field's roof open on a 92-degree night in the desert, the Diamondbacks' bats came alive against Jason Marquis (2-1), who had allowed three earned runs in his first two starts.

Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the second, when Reynolds hit a 2-0 delivery from Marquis into the left field bleachers for his third homer.

The Rockies tied it at 1-all on Dexter Fowler's RBI single in the third.

Back-to-back doubles by Chad Tracy and Reynolds in the fourth put Arizona ahead 2-1, and the Diamondbacks blew the game open with four runs in the fifth, the last three coming on Montero's first-pitch homer into the pool area beyond the right-center field wall.

Marquis said he left a changeup up in the strike zone to Montero, and he regretted it.

"I could have made a pitch in that situation and it would have been a possible different outcome, but I just wasn't real aggressive with the changeup like I wanted to be," Marquis said.

Marquis gave up six runs and nine hits in five innings, walking two and striking out two. He dropped to 0-4 lifetime in Chase Field.

Tracy and Felipe Lopez each had a single and a double for the Diamondbacks, who had 10 hits.

"Contributions from everybody -- that's the kind of team we're going to have to be," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "We can't just rely on one or two guys."

While Arizona cuffed around Marquis, the Rockies stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth innings.

Colorado couldn't put together a big inning against Garland, who went 6 2-3 innings, allowing one earned run and six hits. He walked two and struck out five.

"We had some shots," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "That's one of the things we've got to get better at, producing and stretching out the inning, getting another good at-bat on top of the at-bat we had. We just couldn't get the big hit. We had some opportunities."

Ian Stewart hit his third homer for the Rockies, who have dropped seven of eight to fall into a last-place tie with San Francisco in the NL West.

Chad Qualls worked a perfect ninth for his third save in four chances.