Dunn does it again for D-Backs

Bob Melvin admitted that the best way to watch the streaking Dodgers these days might be in the privacy of your own home or workplace, where you can take your frustration out on inanimate objects “and no one will see you do it.”

The best way to watch the Diamondbacks still is on the edge of your seat.

The D-Backs, who had to win Thursday at Chase Field just to keep pace with Los Angeles, did just that, winning their fourth straight game, 3-2, on Adam Dunn’s run-scoring single in the eighth inning to remain 3 1/2 games behind the Dodgers.

“We can’t let it affect us,” outfielder Chris Young said, after the Dodgers won an afternoon game in Pittsburgh.

“If they win, we have to win. If they lose, we have to win.”

The D-Backs enter the final 10 games of the season with a three-game trip to Colorado, needing to pull a Colorado.

The Rockies overcame a 4 1/2-game deficit in the final 10 games of 2007 to force a wild-card playoff game, which they won, en route to the World Series.

The D-Backs play six of their final 10 games against the Rockies, with four games in St. Louis after their weekend series in Denver.

“We have guys who still believe we are in it. There is no way it is out of the question,” Young said. “You play 162 (games) to the fullest and see what happens at the end.”

The D-Backs, who have played nine straight games decided by one or two runs, played this one down to the wire again.

With two outs in the last of the eighth of a 2-2 game, Conor Jackson singled to right field off top NL Cy Young candidate Tim Lincecum (17-4) and stole second base without a throw on the 2-2 pitch to Dunn.

Dunn singled to right-center on the next pitch for his second game-winning hit of the four-game sweep of the Giants. He homered in the eighth Monday to break a 1-1 tie.

“They should all be game-winners,” he said.

Aware that Lincecum has a deliberate delivery, Jackson said he wanted to steal early in Dunn’s at-bat but stayed put as Lincecum got ahead in the count.

When it got to 2-2, “I figured it was a good time to do it,” Jackson said, getting his career-high ninth stolen base.

Five-time Cy Young winner Randy Johnson got the better of Cy Young candidate Lincecum as the D-Backs took a 2-1 lead into the eighth.

Johnson gave up a run in the first inning but allowed only two runners as far as second base after that in a game that again demonstrated his ability to adjust.

Johnson did not have his best fastball, so he relied on his slider and split-finger pitch.

“He threw more breaking balls than I’ve ever seen in a game,”  Melvin said.

The D-Backs took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning on Justin Upton’s eighth extra-base hit in the last six games, a two-out, two-run triple that left fielder Eugenio Velez misplayed, running in on it before having it sail over his glove.

“It was a tough play. I didn’t put that great a swing on it. For a second in the outfield, you have to think that ball was short,” Upton said.

“You don’t think it is hit that well.”

Bengie Molina’s homer off Juan Cruz in the eighth tied the game at 2 and prevented Johnson from getting the victory.

The bullpen has lost five of his leads this season.

SNAKE BITES

Turning point: Adam Dunn singled to center field with two outs in the eighth inning to drive in Conor Jackson from second base to break a 2-2 tie.
Stat of the game: The D-Backs’ bullpen could not hold a lead for Randy Johnson for the fifth time this season.
Unsung hero: Chad Qualls pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save.
Randy on a roll: Since the All-Star break, Johnson is 4-2 but seems to deserve much better. In 11 starts, he has a 2.28 ERA with 68 strikeouts against 13 walks in 71 innings. He has made 10 quality starts, and the bullpen has lost leads in three of his last five outings, costing him victories.