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Clark, Quentin lead Diamondbacks past Pirates

May 20, 2007 - 5:12 AM PITTSBURGH - Tony Clark wasn't trying to do anything special, but he helped spoil the night for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Clark hit a pinch hit grand slam in the seventh inning and Carlos Quentin singled in two runs in the eighth as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-8, Saturday.

With Tom Gorzelanny on the mound and the Pirates knocking out Diamondbacks starter Micah Owings during a six-run third, Pittsburgh looked poised for its third straight win and fifth in seven.

However, relievers John Grabow and Marty McLeary imploded in the seventh and Arizona reached Matt Capps (2-2) in the eighth for two runs.

Conor Jackson led off the seventh with his second homer of the season off Grabow and after Arizona loaded the bases, Clark drilled a 3-2 offering from McLeary for his sixth blast of the season and a 7-7 tie.

"The guys had been putting on a rally early-on in the inning," Clark said. "I just wanted to keep the line moving and put the bat on the ball so I wasn't trying to do anything extra special. I was fortunate enough to get into a 3-2 count where he doesn't want to walk a run in and I put a good swing on the ball."

"Obviously the Tony at-bat was huge for us," manager Bob Melvin said. "We used our bullpen where it was semi-depleted, but you've got to go for it and deal with the next day, the next day. We're going to be there in a tough spot (Sunday) as far as the bullpen. But to win (Saturday's) game, you're going to have a little more enthusiasm (for Sunday)."

Arizona used five pitchers in 6 1/3 innings of relief for Owings who gave up seven earned runs on six hits and four walks.

"His stuff was good, but he was off the plate just a little bit," Melvin said. "He wasn't missing by much. He didn't have quite as good a command of his fastball as he normally does. He walked a couple guys with the bases loaded which is not like him. Next time out, he'll be better."

Arizona loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth before Quentin lined a hard single up the middle off Capps to plate two runs. Quentin had snapped an 0-for-24 slump with a double the previous night. He was hitless in two previous at-bats last night with two walks before his clutch hit against Capps.

"That's huge for him," Melvin said. "Baseball is a game of confidence and it can turn on a dime. You can struggle for a period of time and then you can get one key hit and all of a sudden you're contributing to a big win. He's got a lot of ability."

Doug Slaten (1-0) worked a scoreless seventh for the win, Brandon Lyon allowed a run in the eighth before Jose Valverde notched his 15th save in 17 chances. Gorzelanny allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings and left after 110 pitches and looked on his way to his sixth win. The lefthander has been outstanding, yielding more than three runs in just one of his nine starts this season and boasting a 2.48 ERA in his last 17 starts dating to July 23.

Adam LaRoche started what appeared to be a Pittsburgh onslaught with an RBI double to right field in the first that scored Jose Bautista, who drew a one-out walk, and the Pirates blew open the game in the third inning.

Jason Bay and Ryan Doumit each drew bases-loaded walks and Xavier Nady singled home a run for a 4-1 lead. Gorzelanny singled in two runs - his second career hit - to end the night for Owings before Nate McLouth reached on an infield single to plate the sixth run of the frame.

Owings was tagged for seven runs and six hits in 2 2/3 frames with four walks in his shortest start of the season. He had not allowed more than three runs in any of his previous five starts.

Rookie Mark Reynolds, who had his contract purchased from Class AA, belted his first career homer in the second inning for Arizona. Reynolds is batting .429 (6 for 14) with five RBIs in four games since his MLB debut Wednesday at Colorado.

Pirates manager Tom Tracy was philosophical about blowing an early 7-1 lead.

"It's a tough game to lose, but I think we asked for it," Tracy said. "We didn't pitch well at all in the seventh inning. It seemed like we had a chance to turn a double play (to end the inning), but we didn't. We didn't throw strikes in the seventh inning and we put ourselves in position to have happened to us exactly what happened. That's what it boils down to."