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PHOENIX(AP) With
Mark Reynolds
, it's often been a strikeout or a home run, and not much in between.
On Saturday, it was his opposite-field double on an 0-2 count that paved the way for Arizona's 3-2, 11-inning victory over
the
Atlanta Braves
.
Eric Byrnes
singled home Reynolds to give the Diamondbacks a 3-2 victory.
''Mark's developing as a hitter every day,'' Byrnes said. ''He's got probably some of the best power I've ever seen. Obviously
that's evident with the home runs. But I think he's really maturing as a hitter, starting to use the entire field and that's
fun to watch.''
Reynolds opened the 11th with a ground-rule double off
Jeff Bennett
(2-2) that bounced into the Atlanta bullpen down the right-field line.
Reynolds moved to third on
Miguel Montero
's sacrifice bunt. With the infield playing in, Byrnes hit a dribbler up the middle.
''It's fundamental baseball at its finest,'' Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said, ''and we executed well there. We got a two-out
hit with
Chris Young
(in the seventh). We did things to help you win games today.''
Juan Gutierrez
and
Tony Pena
each pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Pena (5-2) retired all six batters for the win.
The Braves fell to 1-5 on their trip out West.
''That's a real tough loss,'' said Atlanta catcher
David Ross
, who got into a shouting match with Arizona's
Justin Upton
, clearing the benches. ''It's not sitting well with me right now.''
Javier Vazquez
blanked the Diamondbacks through six innings but didn't make it through the seventh.
With one out and Arizona trailing 2-0, Byrnes beat out an infield single, then
Ryan Roberts
brought him home with a double to left-center. Roberts, a late addition to the starting lineup when
Augie Ojeda
was hurt in batting practice, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Young's pinch-hit single on a 3-2 pitch.
Left-hander Eric O'Flaherty came on to get
Felipe Lopez
to line out to right and
Gerardo Parra
to ground out to third.
''Vazquez was dynamite once again,'' Atlanta manager
Bobby Cox
said. ''We just didn't do enough hitting to get more runs after the deuce we put up. It was real hard to pull him. I don't
think he was even tired, either, but they hit a couple of balls good and we had to hold it.''
The Braves went up 2-0 in the third inning.
Ross led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Vazquez, then scored when
Kelly Johnson
doubled over the head of Byrnes in left.
Garret Anderson
's two-out double to the right-field corner brought Johnson home.
The benches emptied for a brief shouting match after Upton walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases for Arizona with one out
in the sixth. Ross apparently didn't like the way Upton flipped his bat into the air after Vazquez threw the fourth ball.
Upton turned and walked back toward the catcher, and the bullpens emptied. But order was quickly restored.
''That's stuff that goes on in the heat of the battle,'' Ross said.
Vazquez escaped the jam by striking out
Stephen Drew
and Reynolds.
Vazquez gave up two runs, one earned, and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out eight, walked one and hit a batter with
a pitch.
Arizona starter
Doug Davis
went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking two.
Montero led off the Diamondbacks' ninth with a single off Atlanta reliever
Rafael Soriano
and was sacrificed to second on Byrnes' bunt. Roberts was intentionally walked, then pinch-hitter
Josh Whitesell
struck out. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, but Lopez bounced out to third to send the game to extra
innings.
Anderson flied out to the fence in right field to end Atlanta's 10th.
Notes: Ojeda was a late scratch at 3B after he was hit by a ball during batting practice, bruising his left quadriceps. ...
Roberts is 9 for 20 on the homestand. ... Lopez (sore hamstring) got his first start in seven games. ...
Matt Diaz
got his first start in CF for Atlanta. Rookie
Jordan Schafer
, who had started in CF all 48 games before Saturday, came on in the bottom of the sixth. ... Drew struck out four times on
his bobblehead day.
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