GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: ARIZONA (33-24) at NY METS (35-19)

Davis works into eighth inning to lead Diamondbacks

<h3>ARIZONA 4, NY METS 1</h3>FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks areamong the best road teams in the National League and onlyrecently has Doug Davis started to contribute to it.

Davis pitched effectively into the eighth inning as theDiamondbacks continued their success away from home witha 4-1 victory over the New York Mets in the rubber gameof a three-game series.

The Diamondbacks won for the ninth time in 10 games and went 5-1on their six-game road trip. They won the first four games ofthe trip before Saturday's 7-1 loss but Sunday improved to 17-13away from Chase Field.

Davis (4-6) has five of Arizona's road losses but this trip hasmarked a turnaround of sorts for him. He opened the trip with astellar outing Monday in Philadelphia, where he allowed one runand scattered seven hits in eight innings of a 5-4 victory.

On Sunday, he was even better as the Diamondbacks (34-24) avoidedtheir first losing streak in nearly two weeks and moved 10 gamesover .500 (for the second time this season.

The lefthander, who went 1-4 in May, allowed one runs and sixhits. He matched a season high with seven strikeouts, walkedthree and threw 111 pitches against a lineup filled with hittersthat have struggled against him.

Davis appeared to tire in the eighth as he allowed a leadoffwalk to Jose Reyes and fell behind Endy Chavez. Chavezeventually flied out but David Wright singled and Reyes tookthird on rookie third baseman Mark Reynolds' throwing error.

Davis struck out Carlos Delgado for the third time but walkedPaul Lo Duca and was replaced by Tony Pena. Pena left the basesloaded by retiring Damion Easley on a groundout to third. JoseValverde tossed a hitless ninth for his 20th save in 22opportunites and 10th in a row.

For four innings, Davis traded zeros with Mets starter OliverPerez (6-4), who retired the first nine hitters and did notallow a hit until one out in the fifth when Scott Hairston lineda single to left field, which moved Reynolds to third.

Three pitches later, Carlos Quentin hit an RBI double toright-center field for a 1-0 lead. After Perez hit Chris Snyderto load the bases, Albert Callaspo bounced into a 6-4-3 doubleplay, which scored Hairston.

Perez worked out of further trouble by striking out Davis andallowed a sacrifice fly to Orlando Hudson in the sixth.

<div class="pre">The 25-year-old lefthander, who had won his previous three</div>decisions, allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings.

Arizona added an insurance run in the eighth as Eric Byrnesextended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single, advanceda base on a pair of groundouts and scored on Reynolds' infieldsingle.

The Mets played without Carlos Beltran (knee), who is expectedto return for Tuesday's series opener against Philadelphia.Beltran is a respectable 8-for-31 off Davis but some of histeammates have far worse numbers off Davis.

Reyes, who opened the game with a single is 1-for-14 off Davis.Delgado, whose groundout in the sixth, accounted for New York'slone run, is 2-for-20 off Davis.

 

Davis works into eighth inning to lead Diamondbacks

<h3>ARIZONA 4, NY METS 1</h3>FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks areamong the best road teams in the National League and onlyrecently has Doug Davis started to contribute to it.

Davis pitched effectively into the eighth inning as theDiamondbacks continued their success away from home with a 4-1victory over the New York Mets in the rubber game of athree-game series.

The Diamondbacks won for the ninth time in 10 games and went 5-1on their six-game road trip. They won the first four games ofthe trip before Saturday's 7-1 loss but Sunday improved to 17-13away from Chase Field.

"That's a great win right there," Arizona manager Bob Melvinsaid. "When you come in here, obviously 4-2, you're going totake that but to go 5-1 on this trip is an outstanding trip."

"To go through Philly and New York, it's huge," Diamondbackscenter fielder Eric Byrnes said. "This is probably the bestroad trip we've had since I've been on this team and to be ableto go into Philly and New York (is big). To be able to sweepPhilly and take two of three from the Mets in their park, Ithink it's a big confidence booster for this team."

Davis (4-6) has five of Arizona's road losses but this trip hasmarked a turnaround of sorts for him. He opened the trip with astellar outing Monday in Philadelphia, where he allowed one runand scattered seven hits in eight innings of a 5-4 victory.

"I'm just able to control the ball, able not to fall behind,"Davis said. "I threw a lot of strikes especially early in thegame where I could expand the plate later in the game.

"I just thought I made a little bit of adjustments in keeping myfront side in and I was able to execute my pitches. I wasn'table to do that three of four starts ago."

On Sunday, he was even better as the Diamondbacks (34-24)avoided their first losing streak in nearly two weeks and moved10 games over .500 (for the second time this season.

"He was spectacular both times against lineups that were at thetime one and three in the league and this club hitting .325 offlefthanded pitching going into the game," Melvin said. "That'spitching very, very well."

"Davis is throwing the ball well," Byrnes added. "He goes outthere and he battles. He's not going to have overpowering stuffbut he's one of those guys (I call) and uncomfortable 0-for-4.You think you see the ball great and you're comfortable in thereagainst him. But yet he continues to get you out. He's verysimilar to even Livan Hernandez from the left side and those arethe types of pitchers you want on your team."

The lefthander, who went 1-4 in May, allowed one run and sixhits. He matched a season high with seven strikeouts, walkedthree and threw 111 pitches against a lineup filled with hittersthat have struggled against him.

"He threw a lot of strikes," Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca said. "Iknew what we were in for today. He was tough. Doug had greatstuff today and he really shut us down."

Davis appeared to tire in the eighth as he allowed a leadoffwalk to Jose Reyes and fell behind Endy Chavez. Chavezeventually flied out but David Wright singled and Reyes tookthird on rookie third baseman Mark Reynolds' throwing error.

Davis struck out Carlos Delgado for the third time but walked LoDuca and was replaced by Tony Pena. Pena left the bases loadedby retiring Damion Easley on a groundout to third. JoseValverde tossed a hitless ninth for his 20th save in 22opportunites and 10th in a row.

"He deserved it (to stay in) right there," Melvin said ofletting Davis face Lo Duca. "All you got to do is keep him inthe park and for me after the Delgado at-bat, he deserved it."

"I felt fine," Davis said of the eighth. "I felt like I couldgo another 50 pitches. I don't have a problem going out thereand throwing a lot of pitches."

For four innings, Davis traded zeros with Mets starter OliverPerez (6-4), who retired the first nine hitters and did notallow a hit until one out in the fifth when Scott Hairston lineda single to left field, which moved Reynolds to third.

"He lost his rhythm for a second there," Mets manager WillieRandolph said of Perez. "But he pitched pretty well andminimized the damage. He breezed through the first four inningsand then started to overthrow a little."

Three pitches later, Carlos Quentin hit an RBI double toright-center field for a 1-0 lead. After Perez hit Chris Snyderto load the bases, Albert Callaspo bounced into a 6-4-3 doubleplay, which scored Hairston.

"His stuff is electric," Byrnes said of Perez. "We knew thatcoming in. He was tough the first couple of innings. He wasthrowing a lot of strikes and going right at us. I think he hadtrouble finding the zone and we were able to take advantage ofsome walks and then Carlos came up with a big hit. He's one ofthose guys that we had to wait out."

Perez worked out of further trouble by striking out Davis andallowed a sacrifice fly to Orlando Hudson in the sixth.

<div class="pre">The 25-year-old lefthander, who had won his previous three</div>decisions, allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings.

"Sometimes it's going to happen," Perez said of the fifth. "Youwalk two many guys. After the walks they got base hits twice.All you can do is go on."

Arizona added an insurance run in the eighth as Byrnes extendedhis hitting streak to 11 games with a single, advanced a base ona pair of groundouts and scored on Reynolds' infield single.

The Mets played without Carlos Beltran (knee), who is expectedto return for Tuesday's series opener against Philadelphia.Beltran is a respectable 8-for-31 off Davis but some of histeammates have far worse numbers off Davis.

Reyes, who opened the game with a single is 1-for-14 off Davis.Delgado, whose groundout in the sixth, accounted for New York'slone run, is 2-for-20 off Davis.