San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) – Mark Reynolds and Adam LaRoche each homered and Daniel Hudson continued to impress with seven sturdy innings as Arizona downed San Francisco, 11-3, in the second of three meetings at AT&T Park.
Hudson (4-1) yielded a pair of runs on four hits, walked two and struck out six in lasting at least seven frames for a sixth straight start for the D’Backs, who have claimed the first two games of the series after losing seven straight to the Giants.
Miguel Montero contributed a three-run double in the midst of a six-run first inning and Chris Young walked three times and scored three runs for Arizona, which has won seven of its last 11 games within the NL West.
Barry Zito (8-10) absorbed the loss in a second straight sub-par start after giving up a season-high nine runs — seven earned — on six hits, five walks and two hit batters over 3 2/3 innings to match his shortest start of the year.
San Francisco could not gain any ground in the division race on San Diego and remains six back in the NL West while falling 1 1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the NL Wild Card chase.
The D’Backs loaded the bases on singles by Stephen Drew and Kelly Johnson and a walk to Young with one out in the first before LaRoche chased home Drew with a groundout that also advanced the other two runners. Reynolds walked to reload the bases before Montero cleared them with a double to the alley in left-center field.
Ryan Roberts was intentionally passed and Hudson was hit by a pitch to fill the bases for the third time in the frame. Drew lofted a fly ball to shallow right that should have ended the inning but was instead dropped by Jose Guillen to allow two more runs to score. Justin Upton popped out to finally bring the frame to a close.
The Giants got one run back in the home half when Andres Torres tripled and scored on an Aubrey Huff groundout.
Reynolds’ three-run home run in the fourth extended the visitors’ lead to 9-1. Montero was then hit by a pitch, which spelled the end of the night for Zito.
Pablo Sandoval’s solo shot in the bottom half of the inning made it 9-2.
Freddy Sanchez reached second base on a Drew throwing error to open the eighth and came in to score after a pair of groundouts, the last from Pat Burrell.
LaRoche then finished the scoring with a two-run “splash” home run into McCovey Cove in the ninth off Sergio Romo.
Zito had not allowed more than three runs in any inning all season before the first inning on Saturday. He also lasted just 3 2/3 in his last start six days ago at St. Louis. Zito is 0-6 since July 16 and has only one win in his last 15 outings since beating Oakland on June 12. He is 6-4 in 14 home turns and failed to go at least six innings for the first time in 11 home starts since May 11 against the Padres…Giants rookie catcher Buster Posey did not play after suffering a mild strain in his left forearm in Friday’s game…San Francisco closer Brian Wilson was hit on the left side of his neck by a wayward toss from reliever Santiago Casilla during batting practice but was available if needed in Saturday’s game…Sanchez went 1-for-4 and is 12 for his last 19…LaRoche had his second “splash” homer in as many nights to give the D’Backs six, the most of any visiting team at AT&T Park…Arizona is 43-5 when leading after seven innings…Drew singled in five at-bats and had a stretch of nine consecutive extra-base hits snapped…Injured Arizona pitcher Brandon Webb threw 52 pitches during a bullpen session on Saturday…D’Backs coach Joel Youngblood celebrated his 59th birthday on Saturday…The Giants handed out bobblehead dolls of Joe DiMaggio in a San Francisco Seals uniform.