Diamondbacks topple Bucs 8-7, complete sweep

The victory wrapped up a 7-2 homestand for Arizona.
PHOENIX (AP) -- Orlando Hudson had four hits, Andy Green drove in a career-high three runs, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.
Hudson went 4-for-4 to tie a career high for hits and raise his batting average from .218 to .237. Arizona manager Bob Melvin had planned to give Hudson the day off but had to insert him in the lineup when backup Damion Easley suffered a back spasm shortly before the game.
Miguel Batista (4-2) allowed two earned runs and seven hits in six innings for the Diamondbacks, who held onto first place in the NL West as they hit the road for a 10-game trip to Cincinnati, New York and Atlanta. The victory wrapped up a 7-2 homestand for the Diamondbacks, who also won series against San Diego and Atlanta.
Freddy Sanchez hit an RBI single off Arizona closer Jose Valverde in the ninth and Jason Bay added a sacrifice fly to get Pittsburgh within one. But Valverde got Craig Wilson to fly out to the wall in left-center with Sanchez on first for his 14th save in 15 chances.
The Pirates, last in the NL Central, have lost four straight and six of seven. Zach Duke (2-6) took the loss, allowing four earned runs and nine hits in six innings. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter.
The Diamondbacks jumped ahead on Eric Byrnes' solo homer in the first inning, his sixth of the season. An inning later, Wilson tied it at 1 with his eighth home run. Wilson went 4-for-5, also getting three singles to tie a career high for hits.
Bad defense
Then the Pirates had trouble in the field, continuing a problem they had in the first two games of the series.
Shawn Green scored on a Duke wild pitch to make it 2-1 in the second, and Chris Snyder's single drove in another run.
Arizona made it 4-1 in the third when second baseman Jose Castillo committed errors on consecutive batters. After giving up a two-out single to Chad Tracy, Duke appeared to be out of the inning when Conor Jackson bounced to shortstop. But Castillo dropped Jack Wilson's throw to second, leaving runners on first and second.
Shawn Green then grounded to Castillo, who made a bad throw to first base, allowing Tracy to score.
The Pirates made it 4-2 in the fifth on a two-out single by Jack Wilson. They cut the deficit to 4-3 in the sixth when Bay scored on third baseman Tracy's fielding error. It was only the second error in 44 games for Tracy, who had 26 in 143 games two years ago.
Arizona stretched its lead to 5-3 in the sixth when Hudson singled to score Shawn Green, who had been hit by a pitch.
The Diamondbacks made it 8-3 on Andy Green's bases-loaded double in the seventh off reliever Salomon Torres.
Bay cut the lead to 8-5 in the top of the eighth inning with his 13th home run.
Tuesday
Johnny Estrada and Conor Jackson homered and Arizona won for the seventh time in nine games, 7-3 over the Pirates Tuesday night.
Jason Bay hit two solo homers, giving him six in the last six games, but the Pirates still lost their third in a row and fifth of six.
Estrada tied the game with a two-run homer off Victor Santos in the fourth, then Jackson's three-run shot off Santos in the fifth put the Diamondbacks ahead 5-2.
Claudio Vargas (5-2) gave up two runs in the first, then blanked the Pirates for the next five innings.
Santos (1-5) allowed five runs, two earned, and six hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked two.
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