• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Snyder's four RBI helps Diamondbacks rally past Pirates

Aug 9, 2007 - 6:54 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Chris Snyder picked a good time for a season high.

Snyder homered and knocked in four runs as the Arizona Diamondbacks posted a 10-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.

Mark Reynolds added two hits and two RBI for Arizona, which has won 14 of 17 games and increased its lead in the National League West to two games over the San Diego Padres. San Diego lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1, earlier on Wednesday.

Snyder, who had a previous high of three RBI vs. Pittsburgh on May 20, did himself one better tonight.

Edgar Gonzalez (5-2) allowed two hits and three walks in 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of an ineffective Byung-Hyun Kim for the victory.

Closer Jose Valverde, the Diamondbacks' sixth pitcher, tied for the major league lead with his 34th save by hurling the last 1 1/3 innings.

With Arizona trailing, 5-4, in the bottom of the fifth, Eric Byrnes hit a single with runners on the corners to knot the contest at 5-5. After rookie Justin Upton was intentionally walked with two outs, Snyder drew a walk from Pirates starter Paul Maholm to give the Diamondbacks a 6-5 lead.

"I knew he was going to come after me right there," Snyder said. "I was looking for a pitch in one spot that I could drive and I was not going to swing at his pitch. He threw his pitch, it was a little bit down and I drew the walk."

Maholm (7-14) surrendered six runs - four earned - and seven hits in five innings.

"The Diamondbacks hit a couple of good pitches and went the other way with them and for some reason I couldn't make a pitch when I needed to," Maholm said. "It was one of those days where our offense did its job, but I couldn't hold it."

Arizona put the game away in the seventh when Reynolds plated Byrnes with a single up the middle and Snyder smacked a two-run homer to left, extending the Diamondbacks lead to 9-5.

"Snyder has been unbelievable," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "He has really come of age. His offense is secondary although it doesn't look like that right now, and he has become a leader as well."

After Adam LaRoche cut Pittsburgh's deficit to 9-6 with an RBI double in the eighth, Tony Clark's run-scoring single in the bottom half of the inning made it 10-6.

The Pirates took and early 2-0 lead in the first off Kim but the Diamondbacks came right back by scoring four in the bottom of the frame off Maholm.

Snyder had an RBI double in the first as Arizona sent nine men to the plate for a 4-2 lead.

After Kim retired the side in order in the second, the Pirates again got the offense going in the third.

Nate McLouth led off with a homer to right-center and Ryan Doumit ended Kim's night later in the frame with a bases-loaded RBI single. Ronny Paulino then knocked in the third run of the inning on a grounder to third off of Gonzalez, giving Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead.

Kim was tagged for five runs - four earned - and seven hits in just 2 1/3 innings, his shortest start of the season. The native of South Korea was making his first start for Arizona after being claimed off of waivers on August 3 from the Florida Marlins.

"I didn't feel good today, I was tired and I don't know why," Kim said. "It was a little different here than when I was in Florida, nothing worked. My fastball, slider, everything wasn't good, but next time I will be better."

LaRoche had a career-tying four hits for Pittsburgh, which is 3-3 in its last six games after winning just two of its previous 16.

"It wasn't the prettiest game in the world obviously," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "We didn't pitch well. We scored a couple of runs in the first, then gave up four. We walked seven guys. You give up seven base on balls and I guarantee the other team is going to score runs."