D-Backs erase 3-run deficit, top Cards in ninth

As quickly as Conor Jackson scored from first base on Adam Dunn’s double into the right-field corner in the ninth inning, he was that quick again to join the dog pile on Dunn behind second base.

Dunn stood with his arms raised after his game-winning hit — but not for long. He was mobbed by the Diamondbacks after their 10th come-from-behind victory in five weeks, 3-2 over St. Louis on Wednesday.

It looked like Augie Ojeda just beat Jackson to Dunn, but it did not take long for the entire 34-man roster to join the hopping celebration that carried into short center field.

“Any time you get a walk-off win in September, especially in a pennant race, emotions are going to fly,” Jackson said.

“You have to treat every game like a playoff-caliber game, which they are. This type of year, it is difficult to do this.”

The victory not only gave the D-Backs (71-68) the series victory over St. Louis, but also some momentum heading into a three-game series in Los Angeles that begins Friday.

“We can marinate in this a little,” Jackson said.

“It’s huge,” added Dunn, who joined the D-Backs on Aug. 11. “That’s all you can ask for, to be put in that situation. A walkoff win is one of the most exciting things in sports.”

The D-Backs trailed, 3-0, before scoring twice in the seventh on Jackson’s RBI-forceout — on which shortstop César Izturis made a diving stop to save what appeared to be a single with the bases loaded — and a wild pitch.

Drew, whose 5-for-5 game keyed the D-Backs comeback from a 5-1 deficit against St. Louis on Monday, opened the ninth inning with a triple to right-center, winning an eight-pitch at-bat against closer Chris Perez, whose fastball hits the high 90s.

Jackson singled through the hole between third base and shortstop in a seven-pitch at-bat before Dunn lined the second pitch he saw for a game-winner, his first since joining the D-Backs on Aug. 11.

“Fighting at-bats,” manager Bob Melvin called those of Drew and Jackson. “That’s typical of what we expect out of our guys. The more pitches you see, the more pitches you foul off, the better you are going to be.

“Conor’s at-bat got better and better. That’s why you play 27 outs. You have to continue to battle.”

As Jackson admitted, “the first seven innings we were dead. We showed good timing.”

Melvin noticed it early, and mentioned it to the players in the dugout. He said he had even drawn up a little speech on the back of his lineup card when things did not look so good early.

“It didn’t look like our at-bats were great. It didn’t look like we had a lot of enthusiasm,” said Melvin, who said losing the series would have been “demoralizing.”

“Now we’ve got some momentum going into L.A., which we didn’t have,” he said. “It’s one thing to win a game. It’s another to walk a team off. An emotional win like that carries over.”