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Haren dominant as Diamondbacks down Dodgers

Jul 20, 2008 - 5:15 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Through seven innings, Chase Field was the picture of calm because of All-Star Dan Haren. Although Brandon Lyon made things chaotic in the ninth, the Arizona Diamondbacks still ended Saturday in first place in the National League West Division.

Haren continued his mastery at home with seven scoreless innings, guiding the Diamondbacks to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Haren (9-5) improved to 8-2 with a 2.20 ERA at home this season, yielding just four hits and two walks with four strikeouts en route to his first win in four starts. Even without the victories to show for his hard work, the righthander has surrendered two or fewer runs in eight of his last nine outings.

"He could easily have 13 wins this season; it seems like every game he goes out there, that is the type of performance he gives us," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "When we don't score many runs, every pitch seems to be paramount and one pitch could dictate the outcome of the game. He has been phenomenal for the last couple of months and I don't know if there is a better pitcher in baseball."

Haren threw 103 pitches before yielding to Tony Pena, who tossed a scoreless eighth before handing the ball to Brandon Lyon.

"I threw more cut fastballs then I usually do," Haren said. "I had to pitch backwards more than I usually do, so I had to throw more breaking stuff. I just get a feel of the game when I am out there. (It's about) whatever is working and today was different than the way I threw in Washington, which was different than the time before that."

However, Lyon made things quite interesting in the ninth, nearly costing Haren the victory by surrendering a leadoff homer by Jeff Kent and a one-out RBI double by Delwyn Young that drew the Dodgers within 3-2.

The intensity picked up even more as Young moved to third on a groundout by Blake DeWitt and pinch hitter Andruw Jones drew a two-out walk, putting runners on the corners.

But Lyon stranded both runners, getting Matt Kemp to fly out to right field, securing his 20th save in 24 chances this season.

"Whatever the result is tomorrow, I think both clubs realize we play games that either club could win," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "I think the thing you look for is if one club dominates another, that could play into the mind of the other club. That is not going to be the case. These two games are an indicator that these two ballclubs certainly belong on the same field."

The triumph helped the Diamondbacks (48-49) keep the Dodgers (47-50) from gaining sole possession of first place in the division for the first time since Los Angeles was 3-1 in April.

Arizona backed Haren with all the support he needed in the first inning as Conor Jackson belted only his second homer since June 10 - a solo shot - off Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley (9-9).

Orlando Hudson followed with a double and Chad Tracy plated him in the next at-bat when he roped a ground-rule double to right, giving the Diamondbacks a 2-0 advantage.

Stephen Drew added an insurance run in the fourth with an RBI single for the Diamondbacks, who defeated the Dodgers for the fifth time in seven meetings this season.

"This game was as big as it is going to get for this time of the year, so we needed to go out early and get the lead," Jackson said. "When we were struggling a couple of weeks ago, I felt if we weren't going to score in the first few innings, we weren't going to score.

"So it is good to get runs in the first three innings, just to give the guy on the mound some breathing room."

Even after his impressive 13-strikeout performance in a win against Florida on Sunday, Billingsley has dropped two of his last three starts after winning four straight.

"The whole game, besides the last two innings, I was battling up there," Billingsley said. "My timing, everything was just off, so I was battling myself the whole game. My timing was off, I wasn't staying together and I was rushing myself, which caused me to keep it up especially against righties. It was a battle and not pretty."