Chris Johnson hit two more home runs Tuesday night as the Arizona Diamondbacks stopped a three-game losing streak by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4. Johnson, who has been with the team only a week, now has five home runs and 15 RBI, in his eight games as the D-backs' third baseman.
Johnson's first homer of the game couldn't have come at a better time for the D-backs, who led the Pirates 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Reliever Takashi Saito quickly gave up two runs after starting pitcher Patrick Corbin performed admirably over six innings of work. Corbin gave up only two runs on three hits and two walks, and he struck out seven Pirates.
With the D-backs trailing 4-3 in the top of the 8th, Paul Goldschmidt opened the inning with a double, advanced to third on Justin Upton's single, and scored on Miguel Montero's single, tying the game 4-4. Then, Johnson game up with two men on and rapped his 12th homer of the season.
Reliever David Hernandez pitched a perfect bottom of the 8th, and the D-backs tacked on three more runs (two of them coming on Johnson's second homer of the game) to put the game out of reach.
The Diamondbacks are now four games behind NL West-leading San Francisco Giants.
The D-backs will try to win game three of the four-game series today when Ian Kennedy (10-8) takes the mound against Johnson's old Houston Astros teammate Wandy Rodriguez (7-10). First pitch: 4:05 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Arizona. Radio: KTAR 620 AM. More info: www.dbacks.com.
