Arizona extends NL West lead after victory vs. Pirates

D-backs 10, Pirates 6

PHOENIX (AP) -- Byung-Hyun Kim shrugged off the rude reception he got in his return to Arizona and promised he would do better next time.

At least, he said, the Diamondbacks came back to win.

Chris Snyder drove in four runs, two on a home run, and Arizona overcame Kim's difficult outing for a 10-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.

"No, no," Kim said when asked whether the boos bothered him. "Better than New York."

Mark Reynolds tripled in a run and had an RBI single in the Diamondbacks' 14th win in 17 games. Arizona boosted its NL West lead to two games over second-place San Diego, a 2-1 loser at St. Louis.

Pittsburgh's Adam LaRoche went 4-for-5, including an RBI ground-rule double that cut the lead to 9-6 in the eighth. Jose Valverde came on to get the final out of the eighth, on Jason Bay's deep fly out to center, then threw a perfect ninth for his 34th save in 39 attempts.

Kim, the Diamondbacks closer from 1999 through 2001, was acquired off waivers from Florida last week. He was booed when introduced and lasted just 2 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs, four earned, on seven hits. He struck out three, walked one and hit a batter.

The jeers were even louder as Kim trotted off the mound for the night.

"I didn't feel good today," he said. "Today my fastball, slider, everything wasn't good. I guarantee next time I'll be better."

Snyder is hitting .328 (19-for-58) with four home runs and 14 RBIs in July and August.

"I feel good right now," the Diamondbacks catcher said. "Everybody has his ups and downs. When you're up, you try to hold on to it as long as you can, and when you're down, you try to get out of it as quick as you can. I'm just trying to stay as even-keeled as possible."

The 3 1/2-hour game featured 21 hits and 14 walks -- seven by each team.

"It wasn't the prettiest game in the world, obviously," Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy said.

Pirates starter Paul Maholm (7-14) allowed four runs in the first inning, then his throwing error cleared the way for two unearned runs in the sixth.

Chris Young singled and Orlando Hudson put down what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt. Maholm missed the tag on Hudson, though, then threw wildly to first. The runners advanced to second and third, and Eric Byrnes' infield single brought in the tying run. Justin Upton walked to load the bases, then a two-out walk to Snyder put Arizona ahead 6-5.

Reynolds' RBI single and Snyder's two-run homer off Salomon Torres in the seventh made it 9-5.

"He's really come of age," Melvin said of Snyder. "He understands opposition. The pitchers know he's prepared. The offense is secondary, even though it doesn't look like it right now, and he's become a bit of a leader as well."

Tracy credited the defense of Young, Arizona's speedy rookie center fielder who made three big plays including a pair of catches after long runs, as one of the Diamondbacks' keys to victory.

"Basically, with his glove he saved five runs," Tracy said.

Edgar Gonzalez (5-2) pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings to get the victory.

The teams combined for six runs in a 30-minute first inning that ended with Arizona up 4-2.

Pittsburgh went back on top, 5-4, and ended Kim's night in the third. Nate McLouth homered to lead off the inning. Freddy Sanchez and LaRoche singled, and Bay was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ryan Doumit singled in the tying run, and that was it for Kim.

Game notes
The roof was open for an August game for only the second time at Chase Field. ... The Diamondbacks are facing left-handed starters five out of six games during this homestand. ... Upton, at 19 the youngest player in the majors, has three errors in six games since being called up last week.