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6-Run Rally Boosts Arizona
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Published: July 4, 2008
Updated: 07/04/2008 12:11 am
PHOENIX - As Conor Jackson's two-run single bounced through Milwaukee's drawn-in infield, the Arizona Diamondbacks poured out of their dugout as if they had won a title.
All they had really done was reach .500. But it felt like a monumental achievement for the slumping NL West leaders.
In one of the more improbable victories in team history, the Diamondbacks overcame a five-run deficit in the ninth inning to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 on Thursday. After being shut out for eight innings, the Diamondbacks sent seven men to the plate in the ninth, and every one reached base.
"Hopefully this will kind of spark us and get us going," said Chad Tracy, whose three-run, pinch-hit double was pivotal. "That looked like the old Diamondbacks right there, battling back and never giving up."
The victory kept the Diamondbacks 1 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Afterward, they still weren't quite sure how they had done it.
"I was almost in shock, basically," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "We played possum for eight innings, and in the ninth inning we surprised them. Don't ask me."
Orlando Hudson's double down the left field line made it 5-4, but the crowd groaned when Justin Upton ignored third base coach Chip Hale's green light and stopped at third.
The baserunning blunder didn't matter. With Upton at third and Hudson on second, the Brewers brought the infield in. Jackson bounced a single up the middle and a party broke out at home plate.
"It's just a situation you always dream of being in as a kid," Jackson said. "You want to ... win the game and be the hero."
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