Wed Apr 9 19:07:30 2008

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Byrnes burns Dodgers as D'Backs get win

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Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Eric Byrnes' two-run sixth-inning single proved to be the difference, as the Arizona Diamondbacks won their fifth straight and completed a three-game sweep with a 4-3 decision over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field.

Byrnes finished 3-for-5 with a run scored on the day, helping make a winner of Micah Owings (2-0), who limited the Dodgers to three runs on seven hits while striking out four over seven innings. Juan Cruz and Brandon Lyon threw back- to-back scoreless frames behind Owings to preserve the victory.

Hiroki Kuroda (1-1) took the loss for LA, surrendering four runs - two earned - on nine hits in his 5 2/3 innings. James Loney launched a solo home run, while Andre Ethier and Juan Pierre drove in the other Dodgers runs.

Trailing 3-2, Arizona chased Kuroda with a two-run home sixth, as Augie Ojeda led off with a bunt single and Robby Hammock followed with a base hit to right. Kuroda issued a walk to Owings, and though he got Chris Young to pop up to short, the free pass to the pitcher came back to bite him when Byrnes lined a two-out single through the hole on the left side for a 4-3 D-Backs lead.

Owings lasted through the seventh, retiring the Dodgers without much drama in his final frame, before Cruz came on in the eighth and got Russell Martin to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to escape a potential jam.

Jonathan Broxton held Arizona scoreless in the bottom of the eighth to keep the Dodgers within striking distance heading to the ninth, but Lyon sat LA down without issue to earn his second save.

Ojeda finished 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Justin Upton had a pair of hits and an RBI for the D-Backs. Mark Reynolds drove in the other Arizona run - his 13th of the season.

Pierre's RBI double in the top of the second gave the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead, and Kuroda made that edge stand up until running into trouble in the bottom of the fourth.

Byrnes began the inning with a single to left, then moved all the way to third when Loney, trying to turn an Orlando Hudson grounder into a double play, misfired to a covering Rafael Furcal at second. Kuroda then hit Conor Jackson with a pitch, loading the bases with no outs. Reynolds' ground ball plated Byrnes, and after Hudson was erased at the plate trying to advance on a passed ball, Upton singled to center to score Jackson for a 2-1 Arizona lead.

Furcal doubled to lead off the Dodgers' half of the fifth, and came home on an Ethier sac fly to bring LA back even at two. Loney then put the Dodgers up 3-2 in the sixth with a leadoff blast to right-center.

Game Notes

Jackson did not return to the game after being hit by Kuroda's pitch in the fourth, as Chris Burke replaced him at first and finished the day 1-for-2; X- rays taken on Jackson's left hand were negative, and he is listed as day-to- day with a bone bruise...Arizona continues its current six-game homestand with a three-game weekend set beginning Friday against Colorado - a rematch of last season's National League Championship Series.