Diamondbacks Savor First Victory

As Devon White backhanded Rey Sanchez’s long fly ball to secure the Arizona Diamondbacks’ first victory, Manager Buck Showalter stood on the top step of the dugout and savored the scene.

“You only get these moments once and I wanted to see the joy it brought not only to the players but to the fans,” Showalter said Sunday night after his Diamondbacks edged the San Francisco Giants, 3-2. “I think this club was very frustrated in the way they were not able to repay the way the fans came out and supported them.”

Felix Rodriguez, who pitched a perfect ninth inning for his first major league save, did a double-take before he realized the Diamondbacks’ 0-5 start was over.

“The first time I saw the ball I thought it was a double,” said Rodriguez, who struck out Stan Javier and Brent Mayne before Sanchez flied out to near the warning track in center field. “The second time I looked, I saw he got it.”

Arizona’s win left Montreal as the only winless team in the majors. Tampa Bay, baseball’s other first-year club, is 4-2 in the AL.

Bill Mueller hit two home runs for the Giants. But the Diamondbacks scored three times in the first inning, and Andy Benes (1-1) and three relievers made the early lead stand up to snap San Francisco’s three-game winning streak.

Benes gave up six hits in seven innings with two walks and two strikeouts.

“I just happened to be the guy who was out there and got lucky on a few not-so-well-executed pitches,” Benes said. “I thought I was OK, but I’m pretty hard on myself.”

Benes, who lost the opener to Colorado, got off to a shaky start in the first inning when Mueller homered into the Giants’ right-field bullpen.

Arizona struck back in the bottom of the first. White singled, Jay Bell walked and Travis Lee hit an RBI single that tied it at 1.

Matt Williams followed with a bloop hit down the right-field line that fell between second baseman Jeff Kent and right fielder Stan Javier, scoring Bell.

Shawn Estes (0-1) walked Yamil Benitez to load the bases, and Chris Jones grounded into a double play that scored another run.

“I’d definitely like to go back and redo the first,” Estes said. “I had good concentration in the first but sometimes you don’t have that combination of concentration and intensity.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NEXT SERIES FOR DODGERS

WHO: Arizona Diamondbacks

WHERE: Dodger Stadium

WHEN: Tuesday, 1 p.m., Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, 7 p.m.