The Arizona Diamondbacks claimed a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday with a balanced offensive attack and timely pitching by Joe Saunders. The Diamondbacks are now seven games up on the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.
The two teams remained scoreless through the first two innings until Miguel Montero swatted a two-run homer in the third inning. The Rockies came right back and hit two home runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to Kevin Millwood and Carlos Gonzalez, tying the game at 2-2.
Another home run by Willin Rosario in the fourth inning gave the Rockies the 3-2 edge, but a two-run inning in the top of sixth (courtesy of John McDonald and Saunders) gave the lead back to the Diamondbacks. Justin Upton added another home run for Arizona in the following inning, giving the Diamondbacks a 5-3 lead that they would not relinquish.
Saunders gave up big hits in the third and fourth innings, but rebounded to hold the Rockies to just three runs. In six innings, he gave up seven hits and three runs with four strikeouts and one walk. Bryan Shaw, Alberto Castillo, David Hernandez and J.J. Putz held the Rockies scoreless over the game's final three innings to secure the Arizona victory.
The Diamondbacks are in control of the NL West and have a seven-game lead on the Giants with 19 games left in the season. Arizona is now 82-61 overall and will look to keep up its strong play in order to secure a postseason berth.