D-Backs lose in 9th again, fall 3 1/2 back in West

SAN FRANCISCO - For the second day in a row, the Diamondbacks came up big in their ninth inning with a momentum-changing hit, a seeming streak-buster.

For the second straight day, San Francisco found a way to trump it.

An out away from an 0-6 road trip, Chris Young drove in two runs with a two-out triple to give the D-Backs a 3-2 lead at AT&T Park.

But as they did Tuesday, the Giants used the bat of Eugenio Velez to retaliate.

Velez tripled to deep right-center with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, sending the D-Backs to a 4-3 defeat.

Brandon Lyon gave up a one-out single to Bengie Molina and walked Aaron Rowand with two outs before Velez, who singled in the winning run in the ninth inning Tuesday, drove an 0-2 fastball to right center.

"I'd like to replay that," Lyon said.

"It found a hole. That's what happens. I feel like I could have made a better pitch, and it cost us the game. I wanted to go up, but I didn't go up high enough."

The D-Backs (71-74) lost for the 13th time in 16 games to fall three games under .500 for the first time this season.

They also fell a season-worst 3 1/2 games behind Los Angeles in the NL West after the Dodgers beat San Diego on Wednesday night. The D-Backs have 17 games left.

"The games are dwindling down," said pitcher Dan Haren, who gave up one earned run but suffered his third straight loss.

"We realize the situation. We've dug ourselves a big hole. We have to go home and regroup and go out and try to win some games, starting with Friday. You can't win 10 in a row, you have to win one."

The D-Backs had the third 0-6 road trip in team history, the others coming in 2004.

They have lost eight games in the NL West standings to the Dodgers in the last 12 days.

The D-Backs were 4 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers after beating them at Chase Field on Aug. 29 and 1 1/2 games ahead when the trip started in Los Angeles last Friday. They hit .197 on the trip, including 5-for-38 with runners in scoring position, and were outscored 34-14.

Stephen Drew hit his 17th home run to stake Haren to a 1-0 lead in the third, but the Giants scored twice in their half of the inning on a deep fly ball to right field that fell at the base of the fence with the bases loaded and one out. Adam Dunn attempted to deke the runners by pounding his glove as if he were going to catch the ball, then turned at the last minute as if to play it off the wall. It appeared that he had room to catch it on the fly.

"That is a very difficult right field to play," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said in Dunn's defense.

It stayed 2-1 until the D-Backs' ninth, when Chris Snyder led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second before Tony Clark walked. After Drew flied to left, Young hit the first pitch he saw to right center, seemingly erasing the rest.

"It was a horrible road trip, no question," Young said. "But we ain't going to give up. We're going to go out and fight every day. That ball (Velez's triple) just happened to be in the perfect spot."