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Davis wins pitchers duel as Diamondbacks extend division lead

Aug 4, 2007 - 6:12 AM By Andrew Simon PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - Chris Snyder broke a scoreless tie with an eighth-inning home run and Doug Davis pitched eight shutout innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks earned a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.

Davis and Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley were locked in a pitchers' duel for much of the game, but Snyder's blast into the left field seats to lead off the eighth inning proved to be the lone blemish on either pitcher's record.

"The ball was up and out over the plate," Snyder said. "In that situation, he's not going to want to walk me and get the leadoff guy on. He's got to come out after me. He didn't make many mistakes today, and that was one of the few, and it worked out good for us."

With the win, the Diamondbacks increased their lead in the National League West to two games over Los Angeles and 1 1/2 over San Diego.

Davis (8-10) continued his domination of the Dodgers in his fourth career start against them. In his first three starts against Los Angeles, Davis did not allow an earned run in 22 innings - a streak he kept alive Friday. In eight scoreless innings, Davis allowed just three hits.

Davis said he did not know the reason for his success against the Dodgers but added, "I'll take it."

The veteran lefthander has issued more walks than any other National League pitcher this season, but found his control Friday, issuing only one free pass. It was only the third time in 23 starts that Davis allowed one walk or less.

The closest the Dodgers came to scoring was in the opening frame, when Juan Pierre singled with one out and stole second. With two outs he moved to third on an error, but Olmedo Saenz flew out to right field to end the threat.

Davis did not allow another runner past first base.

"I threw a lot of junk up there and tried to keep it down in the zone," Davis said. "I tried to keep them off-balance ... I executed tonight."

Jose Valverde pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save of the season.

Billingsley (7-2) was the hard-luck loser, yielding one run and five hits in 7 2/3 innings. The 23-year-old righthander had not allowed a runner past first base until Snyder belted his ninth home run of the season in the eighth.

Billingsley, who had walked at least three batters in seven of his first eight starts, found the plate with more regularity Friday, walking just two batters to go along with eight strikeouts.

"If I have command of my fastballs, it sets up the offspeed," Billingsley said. "Today everything was there, and I kept pounding the zone with it."