Final
Clark's solo blast lifts Diamondbacks over Phillies
May 9, 2007 - 5:17 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Tony Clark delivered in the clutch yet again for the Arizona Diamondbacks.Clark's seventh-inning solo blast lifted the Diamondbacks to a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.
Rookie righthander Micah Owings (2-1) earned his second major league win with seven strong innings and Eric Byrnes drove in a pair of runs for Arizona.
Clark pinch hit for Owings with two out in the bottom of the seventh and drove the first offering from Phillies starter Adam Eaton deep into the right field stands for his fifth homer in just 55 at-bats. The veteran first baseman has provided the winning margin with homers in two previous games this season as well.
"More than anything else, and we talk about it in here, with the quality guys we have, on any given night anybody can get that big hit in any given situation," Clark said.
"It's a tough role," said Arizona manager Bob Melvin. "We've got a guy we kinda skipped over so I can get Tracy out there. I told him last night and he said, 'no problem, no problem. It's the smart thing to do.' All he does is prepare and get ready to play."
Owings posted his first win since his first start on April 6, despite not having yielded more than three earned runs in any of his three starts since. The 24-year-old allowed two runs and five hits while striking out two and issuing a pair of walks.
"I felt pretty good," Owings said. "I don't think I got ahead of hitters like I'd like to but they came out swinging."
Brandon Lyon pitched a scoreless eighth for the Diamondbacks and Tony Pena pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.
Eaton (3-3) matched Owings through 6 2/3, but could not retire Clark. The veteran righthander yielded three runs and seven hits in seven innings, striking out four and walking one.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel allowed Eaton to bat in the top of the seventh with two outs and runners on first and third.
"The bottom of the lineup was the main reason I let him pitch," Manuel said. "He was pitching good and I felt like he could get the bottom of the lineup and we could get to (Geoff) Geary in the eighth and go from there."
The Diamondbacks opened the scoring in the second, when Byrnes lifted a one-out homer to deep left. It was Byrnes' fourth homer of the season and first since April 13 against Colorado.
The 473-foot blast also tied for the longest in the stadium's history.
"It's been a while since I've hit a home run so I decided to take all my aggression out on that one ball," Byrnes said.
The Phillies forged a tie in the top of the fifth, when Greg Dobbs led off the frame with a blast to right.
Byrnes got into the act again in the bottom of the sixth. Chris Young singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on Chad Tracy's two-out single to left and came home on Byrnes' RBI single.
"I made some good pitches when I needed to and some not so good pitches when I needed to make good pitches," Eaton said. "I felt better when I won and gave up six runs than I did today losing and giving up three."
Philadelphia did not let Arizona enjoy the lead for long. All-Star Chase Utley led off the top of the seventh with a solo blast into a pool beyond the right field fence to tie the score at 2-2.
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
PHILADELPHIA 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 5 3
ARIZONA 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 x 3 7 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: PHI - ADAM EATON, GEOFF GEARY (8TH) AND CARLOS RUIZ
ARI - MICAH OWINGS, BRANDON LYON (8TH), TONY PENA (9TH)
AND CHRIS SNYDER
HOME RUNS: PHI - GREG DOBBS (1) OFF M
May 8 11:59 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY TONY CLARK (5) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT IN THE
7TH OFF ADAM EATON.
CURRENT SCORE: PHILADELPHIA 2, ARIZONA 3
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: C YOUNG (.232, 2-FOR-3)
Phillies vs. DiamondbacksMay 8 11:29 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY CHASE UTLEY (6) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 0 OUT
IN THE 7TH OFF MICAH OWINGS.
CURRENT SCORE: PHILADELPHIA 2, ARIZONA 2
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: P BURRELL (.247, 0-FOR-2)
Phillies vs. DiamondbacksMay 8 11:16 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ERIC BYRNES SCORED CHRIS YOUNG.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, E BYRNES ON FIRST, C TRACY ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: PHILADELPHIA 1
ARIZONA 2 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: S DREW (.244, 0-FOR-2)
Phillies vs. DiamondbacksMay 8 11:11 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY GREG DOBBS (1) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
5TH OFF MICAH OWINGS.
CURRENT SCORE: PHILADELPHIA 1, ARIZONA 1
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: A NUNEZ (.261, 0-FOR-1)
Phillies vs. DiamondbacksMay 8 10:41 PM - NL
AT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY ERIC BYRNES (4) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
2ND OFF ADAM EATON.
CURRENT SCORE: PHILADELPHIA 0, ARIZONA 1
DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: S DREW (.248, 1 HR, 12 RBI)
Phillies vs. DiamondbacksMay 8 10:03 PM
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