Owings pitches Diamondbacks to 4-3 win over Rockies

[May 15, 2008]  PHOENIX (AP) -- Micah Owings threw six shutout innings and Brandon Lyon earned his 10th straight save as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Colorado Rockies 4-3 on Wednesday night, extending their domination of the defending NL champions.

Orlando Hudson hit a two-run double for the Diamondbacks, who have won seven of eight games against Colorado this season after being swept by the Rockies in the NL championship series last fall.

The Diamondbacks improved to a major league-best 25-15 -- including 19-5 against the feeble NL West -- and dropped the Rockies 10 games back in the division race.

Lyon pitched out of trouble in the ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances. He gave up two-out singles to Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins before retiring Brad Hawpe on a pop to third base.

Arizona's latest victory came while Owings (5-1) limited the Rockies to five hits in six innings, with two walks and five strikeouts.

Owings had a 4-0 lead when he left but had to sweat out the victory when the normally reliable Arizona bullpen faltered.

The Rockies broke through in the seventh against Chad Qualls, cutting the deficit to 4-1 on a single by Ryan Spilborghs.

Colorado pulled to within 4-3 in the eighth on a two-run pinch single by Scott Podsednik off Tony Pena. One of the runs was charged to Doug Slaten, who gave up a leadoff single to Helton to start the rally.

Owings won his first four starts but had gone winless in his last three, allowing 14 earned runs in 17 2-3 innings.

It looked as if the Rockies would extend Owings' slump on an 84-degree evening in the desert. He walked leadoff man Spilborghs, gave up a double to Matt Holliday and walked Helton to load the bases with one out.

Owings struck out Atkins and retired Hawpe on a grounder to second to end the threat.

Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa (1-2), a former Diamondbacks farmhand, allowed one hit over the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth. Singles by Stephen Drew, Hudson and Conor Jackson gave Arizona a 1-0 lead.

The Rockies walked Justin Upton intentionally to load the bases for Eric Byrnes, who entered hitting .220. Byrnes bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to make it 2-0.

The Diamondbacks made it 4-0 on Hudson's two-run double in the fifth -- an inning that ended with Byrnes grounding to short to leave the bases loaded.

Notes: Arizona LHP Randy Johnson iced his pitching hand on Wednesday, one day after trying to catch a bouncer barehanded. He said he expects to make his scheduled start Sunday. "It's the smart pitchers that pull their hand back," Johnson said. "It's the dumb ones that leave it out there." ... Owings entered hitting .417 but went 0-for-3 to drop his average to .370. ... De La Rosa was signed by the Diamondbacks on March 20, 1998, 11 days before their first game. ... Colorado RHP Aaron Cook will go after his seventh straight victory in the series finale Thursday night. Cook (6-1) has a 1.90 ERA during his six-game win streak, which includes a victory over Arizona on April 13.

[Associated Press; By ANDREW BAGNATO]

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