D'Backs Smack Down Brewers
Tony Womack's hitting is so good it almost obscures his defense. Almost.
Womack extended his hitting streak to 22 games, scored twice and had six assists including one of the highlight-reel variety and the Arizona Diamondbacks stretched their team-record home winning string to 11, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 7-3 Saturday.
"That's like a long day for me," said the shortstop, who went deep in the hole to throw out Henry Blanco early in the game. "It was good, though. Armando (Reynoso) is very good at keeping the ball on the ground. Sometimes they go a little further than you want, but the good thing is he kept battling the way we did."
Steve Finley hit his 18th homer and drove in three runs, raising his NL-leading RBIs total to 51. His two-run homer in the fifth inning tied it and Jay Bell singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth.
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Finley starred on defense as well, robbing Jose Hernandez of a hit with a diving catch that ended the eighth inning.
"That was a pretty catch," manager Buck Showalter said. "That's something we've come to not assume, but not be surprised whe he does it."
Luis Gonzalez also homered for Arizona, which has won five straight overall. Milwaukee has lost four in a row.
Reynoso (3-4) allowed two runs in six innings. Byung-Hyun Kim retired the last five batters for his fifth save in six chances.
Womack doubled and singled in extending the longest hitting streak in the majors this season.
Pinch-hitter Hanley Frias had a two-run single in the seventh and Gonzalez homered in the eighth.
Erubiel Durazo singled with two outs in the fifth and Finley followed with a 418-foot drive onto a pavilion that juts out over the field in left-center, tying it at 3.
"I just left a changeup up, and I should have thrown it down to him," starter Jason Bere said. "My changeup had good action today. But they're that kind of team very disciplined. They get quality at-bats."
"Against a hitter like that, you've got to make a pitch," manager Davey Lopes said. "And when you don't that's what happens."
Turner Ward, the next batter, singled off Bere's left ankle, forcing him from the game.
In the next inning, reliever Juan Acevedo (0-2) got one out before Womack doubled and scored on Bell's single.
Mark Sweeney doubled twice in his first start with the Brewers and drove in a run.
The Brewers took a 3-1 lead in the fifth when Bere tripled with one out, hitting a sinking liner to right that got past a charging Ward. After Reynoso walked Ron Belliard, Mark Loretta hit an RBI single and scored on Sweeney's second double.
Milwaukee got an unearned run in the first after a throwing error by Andy Fox, playing third base to rest Matt Williams. The Diamondbacks tied it in their half on an RBI groundout by Finley.
Notes
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