• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Diamondbacks rally to top slumping Mets

Jun 11, 2008 - 4:43 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Once the rain stopped at Shea Stadium, the Arizona Diamondbacks resumed their comeback with some very long hits.

Following a 61-minute rain delay, Chris Snyder snapped an eighth-inning tie with a solo home run and Stephen Drew and Conor Jackson added blasts in the ninth as the Diamondbacks posted a 9-5 victory Tuesday over the struggling New York Mets.

Orlando Hudson launched a two-run shot off starter John Maine in the fifth inning and pinch hitter Augie Ojeda delivered a two-run single in the sixth to erase a 5-1 deficit for the Diamondbacks, who matched their largest comeback of the season in winning for just the fifth time in their last 15 games. Arizona managed to pull even before rain halted play after six frames.

"Leading up into the break, Augie obviously gets a huge hit for us, puts us in a position where we're back in the game and it's a tie game," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said.

The Diamondbacks grabbed the lead against Joe Smith (0-1) in the eighth, when Snyder sent an 0-2 pitch into the bleachers beyond the left field wall. It was Snyder's second late-inning, game-winning solo homer in four days, as he also connected in the ninth inning at Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Tuesday's blast came after he had just fouled off the exact same pitch, helping Arizona to its 11th comeback victory of the season.

"It was the same pitch," Snyder said. "I just kept my weight back on that and let my hands do the work."

"In Little League, you're told 0-2, if you throw a breaking ball, make sure he can't hit it," said Smith, who allowed his first home run of the season. "You get ahead, you're in the driver's seat. I know that."

Snyder ability to hit the homer impressed Melvin.

"Snyder's home run, down in the count, (Smith) is pretty tough on righthanded hitters out there," Melvin said. "To get a ball to square up and leave the ballpark obviously put a lot of momentum in our dugout, and we just tacked on some and it ended up being a big win for us."

Drew made it 8-5 with a two-run blast off Duaner Sanchez in the ninth and Jackson capped the scoring two batters later with a solo shot.

"It just shows we have a lot of heart," Drew said. "We never give up."

"It's an enormous boost to know, here we go, here we go, and we came back," Jackson added. "It's nice to know we can pull that game out."

Chad Qualls (1-5) benefited from Snyder's blast, picking up his first win since July 25 after working a perfect seventh inning. Qualls was one of five relievers that combined to limit New York to three hits over the final 4 2/3 frames.

Tony Pena protected a one-run lead by working around leadoff single by Damian Easley in the eighth and closer Brandon Lyon pitched the ninth in a non-save situation.

For the second consecutive start, Arizona's Micah Owings failed to last five innings. The righthander was tagged for five runs - four earned - and eight hits in 4 1/3 frames in this one after yielding identical numbers in a 10-1 loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday.

David Wright homered and Moises Alou returned from the disabled list to drive in a pair of runs for the Mets, who have lost five in a row.

"This is trying time for us," Wright said. "We can do it, keep our heads up and bring some positivity. I think there are guys hanging their heads. We got 99 games left. We have plenty of time to turn this thing around. We just have to do it one game at a time."

Before squandering a lead for the second straight game, New York scored three runs in the first inning to erase a 1-0 deficit and two more in the second. Alou capped the outburst in the first with a two-run single and Wright belted a two-run homer to right-center field a frame later.

Maine tossed five innings, surrendering three runs and five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.