Pinch-Hitting Pitcher Keys Arizona Rally

Pitcher Micah Owings' pinch-hit homer tied the game in the sixth and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied from four runs down to beat the Houston Astros 8-7 on Wednesday. Owings, 4-0 as a starter and arguably the best-hitting pitcher in the game, hit the first pitch of the game from reliever Dave Borkowski to the opposite field seats.

It was a two-run shot with two outs that tied it at 7-7. Chris Young followed with a double, then scored the go-ahead run on Eric Byrnes' single. Arizona (20-8) became the season's first 20-game winner, a franchise-record 19 of them in April. Arizona won its eighth series out the last nine. (More baseball stories.)