Diamondbacks back up Haren, pummel punchless Giants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Dan Haren took the mound knowing he needed to get Arizona off to a strong start in what has shaped up to be a key stretch for the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.

Haren did his part and so did the offense.

Mark Reynolds hit a three-run homer, Conor Jackson and Chad Tracy also connected and the D-backs gave Haren plenty of early run support in a 10-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.

"It's a very important road trip for us. Everyone knows it," Haren said. "It's nice to set the tone and start off on the right foot, and hopefully go on from here. I had a little extra adrenalin coming out at the beginning of the game and felt good in the bullpen, which isn't always the case."

Stephen Drew and Chris Young hit two-run doubles in Arizona's five-run second inning, when the Diamondbacks batted around against Jonathan Sanchez (8-6) on four hits, three of them doubles. Chris Snyder singled in the other run that inning and Jackson had a double.

Haren (10-5) matched his season high with nine strikeouts and didn't walk a batter in eight innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this month. He allowed nine hits and two runs.

Arizona quickly showed why it is atop the West despite the division's poor record this year, ending the Giants' momentum after San Francisco took three from the Washington Nationals for the club's first home sweep of the season.

Both clubs considered this a crucial series -- and the Diamondbacks began a stretch of 10 straight division road games in impressive fashion.

With Arizona leading 6-1, Reynolds hit the first pitch from rookie Geno Espineli over the wall in center for his 20th homer. Tracy followed with his sixth homer to chase Espineli, who earned his first major league win Wednesday in his second career outing.

"To put up 10 tonight is huge for us," Reynolds said. "You get guys on base and anything can happen. That's what we've been doing. We're doing the little things."

Arizona hit consecutive home runs for the second time this year. Justin Upton and Reynolds did it on May 31 at Washington.

Jose Castillo singled in the Giants' first run in the fifth and Fred Lewis added an RBI single in the seventh.

"I thought we had some pretty good at-bats," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We created a couple of good opportunities. We just let the game get out of hand."

Haren, who won his last decision after a three-start winless stretch, added a double to his cause for his seventh hit in 45 at-bats this season. Acquired by Arizona last December from Oakland, Haren made his first start in the Bay Area since the swap.

Haren allowed two or fewer earned runs for the eighth straight start as the D-backs improved to 6-10 over their last 16 road games.

"Danny, that's pretty much what we see every time from him," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "We've had some games we really thought would give us some momentum and games we thought would take the momentum away from us. We've got to follow it up tomorrow."

Diamondbacks second baseman Orlando Hudson returned to the lineup and batted third after missing Wednesday's game with a bruised right ankle. He was hurt when hit by a pitch Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs.

Sanchez was done after 2 2/3 innings, the left-hander's shortest outing of 2008 and third shortest of his career.

"I wasn't focused," Sanchez said. "After those plays, I just got frustrated and was throwing the ball -- I wasn't pitching then."

Game notes
Haren didn't give up a walk for the fifth time this year. ... Giants RHP Keiichi Yabu, on the DL nursing a sprained right middle finger, was scheduled to throw his first bullpen of fastballs only Saturday. ... Giants LF Dave Roberts was out of the starting lineup a day after making his first start since April after recovering from left knee surgery. He had a great catch and two hits, including the game-winning RBI. His knee is fine and Bochy said Roberts would start again Saturday night when the Giants face 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb. ... Melvin is moving RHP Micah Owings back into the rotation and putting RHP Yusmeiro Petit in the bullpen. Owings will start in the team's next series at San Diego. "It was a difficult decision," Melvin said. "Both of these guys have done enough to warrant pitching in the rotation."