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Davis stays hot as Diamondbacks beat Marlins

Aug 16, 2007 - 3:48 AM MIAMI (Ticker) - Doug Davis continued his winning ways on Wednesday as the Arizona Diamondbacks posted a 9-6 victory over the Florida Marlins.

Eric Byrnes and Mark Reynolds each had three hits for Arizona, which snapped a two-game losing streak and moved 2 1/2 games ahead in the National League West over the San Diego Padres, who were hosting the Colorado Rockies.

Davis (10-10) pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits en route to his third consecutive victory. The lefthander struck out five and walked three as the Diamondbacks remained undefeated over his last seven starts. He allowed just one run before serving up a three-run blast to Cody Ross in the sixth.

"Once again, he (Davis) gave us exactly what we needed," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "Early on his ball (to) strike (ratio) was good, his pitch count was good. That (Ross) was going to be his last hitter regardless."

"I felt good, but after running the bases in the fourth I felt a little tired," Davis said. "But I think I executed my pitches well. You've got to hand it to Ross. He hit a mistake pitch. It was a little predictable. He knew what I was going to throw."

Ross' sixth home run of the season pulled the Marlins within 5-4, bouncing Davis from the game.

"He didn't quite make his pitch there," Melvin said. "But other than that, he gave us exactly what he's been giving us every time he's gone out there."

The Diamondbacks cemented the win in the seventh inning.

The first three batters of the inning reached to load the bases against Florida reliever Justin Miller. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez tried to cut down Orlando Hudson at home after fielding a ground ball by Justin Upton, but catcher Miguel Olivo dropped the ball to give Arizona a 6-4 lead.

Arizona increased its lead to four without putting a ball in play, due to a balk and a wild pitch by reliever Justin Miller. Jeff Salazar plated Upton with a single to cap the inning with a 9-4 lead.

"Give them credit," Ross said. "They came right back and swung the bats and scored some weird runs."

Four relievers bridged the gap to closer Jose Valverde, who pitched the ninth for his 36th save of the season.

Marlins starter Sergio Mitre (5-6) surrendered five runs on 10 hits over six innings to remain winless since July 29. The righthander struck out three and walked one.

"I didn't do my job," Mitre said. "We tie up the game, and then I give it right back. I let the guys down. Five runs shouldn't happen. We should have won this game."

The Diamondbacks opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Reynolds singled to center, scoring Byrnes, who led off the inning with a single.

Florida answered in the bottom of the fourth, when Josh Willingham led off the inning with a single and later scored on Olivo's ground out to third.

The game didn't stay tied for long, as the Diamondbacks took a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning. After Davis replaced Stephen Drew at first on a fielder's choice and Chris Young flied out to center field, Hudson singled with two outs. Byrnes followed with a two-run double to deep center.

The Arizona lead bulged to four in the sixth inning on Chris Snyder's two-run blast, his 11th of the season.

"It's what we've been saying since the second half (started)," Snyder said. "It's somebody new every night. That's how we're rolling right now ... the saying that's been used around the clubhouse is anybody, anytime, any night. You never know."

Florida scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh but didn't get any closer as the Diamondbacks took the second game of the three-game set.

"That's how quickly it happens sometimes," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We were right in it but we couldn't get the big out."