Unit, D'Backs Catch A Break

Kelly Stinnett never forgets to run on a swinging third strike in the dirt. After all, he is a catcher and knows anything can go wrong.

Eddie Perez's error allowed Stinnett to reach and gave Arizona a second chance in the ninth inning, allowing Tony Womack to tie the game with a two-out, RBI single and Luis Gonzalez to win it with a two-run single as the Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves 7-5 Sunday.

"I run all the time," Stinnett said. "That's the way I was taught. You always run. It can be a tough play for a catcher. There's not a catcher that hasn't thrown it away before."

The loss was just the third in 16 games for Atlanta, which leads the New York Mets by 2 1/2 games in the NL East. Arizona took two of three from Atlanta to move six games ahead of San Francisco in the NL West.

"This was critical," Johnson said. "It shows we're capable of beating them."

With two out and nobody on and the Braves leading 5-4, Kelly Stinnett struck out on a pitch in the dirt against John Rocker (4-5). Perez retrieved the ball in front of the plate and had what should have been an easy throw to first. He threw the ball over first baseman Randall Simon's head into right field, allowing Stinnett to reach second.

"It was my error, so I think it's my fault," Perez said. "I think this is my worst game ever. I made the error."

Simon and Braves manager Bobby Cox both thought Simon should have made the play despite the high throw.

"I thought Eddie made a decent throw at first," Cox said. "The first baseman should have made that play. We took something for granted and got beat."

Dante Powell ran for Stinnett and Tony Womack followed with a single to left, scoring Powell. Womack took second on the throw to the plate. Rocker intentionally walked Jay Bell and the runners advanced on a double steal. Luis Gonzalez singled, driving in Womack and Bell to give Arizona a 7-5 lead.

"It was a breaking ball he left out over the middle of the plate," Gonzalez said.

It was Rocker's sixth blown save in 37 chances.

Gregg Olson (6-4) pitched a scoreless eighth and Matt Mantei struck out the side in the ninth for the second straight game to earn his 27th save in 31 opportunities.

Jones' two solo homers and Gerald Williams' two-run double off Johnson gave Atlanta a 5-4 lead in the seventh. Jones has 37 homers.

Johnson had his 21st double-digit strikeout game of the season to give him 328 on the season. With five scheduled starts left, he is 55 strikeouts away from tying Nolan Ryan's single-season record set in 1973.

"It's the wins that are hard to accumulate, not the strikeouts," he said.

Johnson tied Sandy Koufax's NL record set for double-digit strikeout games set in 1965 and is two behind Ryan's mark set in 1973.

Arizona's Matt Williams, who was 0-for-9 with six strikeouts in the series, hit a three-run home run in the third off Atlanta's Tom Glavine to put the Diamondbacks ahead 3-1. Williams has a career-high 123 RBIs.

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