Dose of Venom: Diamondbacks overcome Giants for first win of 2014

It took 11 days and two continents, but the Arizona Diamondbacks finally have their first win of 2014.

Behind Wade Miley’s seven innings pitched and A.J. Pollock’s three hits, two runs scored and one RBI, the Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Tuesday to even the four-game series at one win apiece.

“It’s a great win,” manager Kirk Gibson said.

And a great peformance by Miley. He retired 15 straight batters after Brandon Belt’s three-run home run made it 4-0 San Francisco in the first inning.

“I kind of got them in swing mode. They were swinging early, and fortunately they were hitting it to our guys,” said Miley (1-1), who after allowing four hits in the first frame did not surrender another hit until the seventh.

Offensively, the Diamondbacks responded with two runs in the first and another run in the fourth. Then in the sixth, with Giants starter Matt Cain out of the game, Pollock doubled home the tying run and scored the go-ahead run on a Gerardo Parra sacrifice fly.

“Just trying to get that first win,” said Pollock, who had been held hitless through the first three games.

His three-hit performance tied a career-high, done nine times previously.

Will Harris worked a scoreless eighth and Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his first save with the Diamondbacks.

THE GOOD

With his one-out RBI double in the first inning, Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 23 games — the longest active streak in the Majors and the third-longest in club history behind Tony Womack (24 straight in 2000) and Luis Gonzalez (30 straight in 1999). Goldschmidt added a single in the seventh inning for his fourth straight two-hit game to start the season.

After a 28-pitch first inning, Miley’s pitch count went nine-nine-six in innings two, three and four — which allowed him to stay in the game and work through seven innings.

Pollock beat out an infield single in the second inning for his first hit of the season. He had been 0-for-13 with two walks and a run scored.

Miguel Montero drew three walks — one intentional — in four plate appearances.

THE BAD

After the first six batters of the game, the Diamondbacks found themselves down 4-0 — and outscored 10-1 in the last four innings against the Giants. Belt, by the way, has hit six of his last 19 home runs against the D-backs.

Mark Trumbo hit into his first two double plays of the season. He grounded into 4-6-3 inning-ending double plays with runners on first and second in both the first and seventh innings.

Pollock showed poor decision making on the base paths. In the fourth inning, he was nearly picked off first — the call stood after challenged by Giants manager Bruce Bochy — and then later caught a break as replays showed he was out at home trying to score on a passed ball. The play could not be reviewed, fortunately, since Bochy had lost the challenge earlier in the inning.

STAT OF THE GAME

The Diamondbacks’ victory was their first after allowing at least four runs in the top of the first inning since Sept. 22, 2010, against the Colorado Rockies, when they allowed four runs in the first inning but won 8-4.

HE SAID IT

“Good thing I made it close at first. It was all part of the master plan.” – A.J. Pollock on his trip around the bases in the fourth inning

NOTED

– The Diamondbacks and Giants combined to score six runs on seven hits in a 56-pitch, 31-minute first inning.

– The Diamondbacks announced their attendance was 18,974 — nearly 30,000 less than the night before (48,541) and almost 10,000 less than their second home game last season (28,356), which also happened on a Tuesday.

– According to Giants beat writer Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Diamondbacks relocated Giants fans sitting behind home plate. He tweeted, “Remember last year how the #dbacks refused to allow Dodgers fans to sit in the home-plate box in view of the CF cameras? #dbacks did it again tonight with a group of 20 #sfgiants fans who rented the box. They were moved to a box beyond the dugout. #amateurhour”

UP NEXT

Trevor Cahill will make his first start on U.S. soil and his second overall this season. He’ll be matched up against Tim Hudson, who will take the mound for the first time in a Giants uniform Wednesday at Chase Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Cahill started the second game of the opening series in Sydney, Australia, and took the 7-5 loss against the Dodgers, allowing five runs in four innings. In 11 career starts against the Giants, he is 5-3 with a 3.67 ERA (28 ER in 68.2 IP). Hudson, meanwhile, has enjoyed great success in his career against the Diamondbacks, going 7-1 with a 2.18 ERA in 11 starts, including one complete game.

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