(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

A day game on a Friday? Friday’s an odd day for a 1:05 start and a necessary errand in Berkeley made me miss the first half of the game.

What I found when I got home was that the Diamondbacks scored 3 runs in the first inning. Chris Young walked. Chris Burke reached on an error by Yorvit Torrealba. Orlando Hudson moved them along with a ground out to short and Eric Byrnes walked. Now with the bases loaded, Chris Snyder singled home Young and moved Burke and Byrnes up a base. With the bases still loaded, Mark Reynolds doubled, scoring Burke and Byrnes. 3-0 D’Backs.

In the second inning, Byrnesie grounded into a force out 6-4, to nip a rally in the bud. He should cut a deal with me whereby he has to pay me $100 every time he strands a runner at third. Micah Owings got a single that inning and was said runner at third.

I got home and settled into my chair in time for the bottom of the 4th. Nothing doing. Still 3-0 Diamondbacks. Top of the 5th, Byrnesie flied to right but Reynolds hit his first homer of the season. That was three RBI on the day for him. 4-0 Arizona.

In the top of the 6th, Young doubled and moved to third on a Burke fly to deep left. Hudson brought him home with a single. 5-0 Diamondbacks. Byrnesie hit a double with two out that moved Hudson to third but they didn’t go any further. Still, the pitcher left a pitch up in the zone and it was great to see Byrnesie take a healthy hack and line the ball over third baseman Garrett Atkins’ head and down the left field line. He has only 2 hits so far, but they have both been for extra bases.

Micah Owings retired 17 in a row before walking Willie Taveras in the bottom of the 6th. Willie didn’t get past first.

Justin Upton hit a solo homer in the 7th. All 7 of the Diamondbacks’ homers so far this season have been solo shots. 6-0 D’Backs.

Todd Helton sent an Owings fastball into the second deck in right field in the bottom of the 7th. A no-doubter as soon as it left the bat. 6-1 D’backs. Owings settled down and struck out Matt Holiday for the third time this day. He got another out, but was pulled after walking Brad Hawpe. Chad Qualls replaced him.

Owings pitched 6.2 innings, striking out 9 in the process. That was a career high in K’s. It is good to get this quality start from Micah because Doug Davis was shaky in his start, and once he goes in for his surgery, he may be out until the beginning of June. Meanwhile, the report on Randy Johnson was that he gave up 5 runs in four innings in a Triple A rehab start. Not Good.

Qualls finished the 7th and the pitched the 8th, allowing no hits. Juan Cruz pitched a 1-2-3 9th that included the day’s 4th strike out of Matt Holiday. That the Rockies’ cleanup hitter ended the day hitting .071 makes me feel slightly better about Byrnesie ending the day batting .125. SLIGHTLY better.

Hey, Byrnesie, my IQ is 139, my weight is 151, and you reportedly weigh 210. Do you think you can get past all those points before you get to San Francisco? (BTW, the stuff I said to you last year, which you have said was helpful, applies this year, too).

The latest on Connor Jackson is that he has the flu.

Trivia: Chris Young, Chris Burke, and Chris Snyder. Brandon Webb, Brandon Medders and Brandon Lyon. Two first names account for nearly a quarter of the roster. (And Chris Young’s middle name is Brandon).

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