D-backs hit 3 homers, outslug Belt, Giants

March 23rd, 2016

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Jake Lamb's pinch-hit, three-run homer erased an early deficit and helped the D-backs past the Giants, 10-6, on Wednesday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd at Salt River Fields.
Chris Owings led off the bottom of the first with a homer off Matt Cain to give the D-backs a 1-0 lead, but the Giants' offense roared back with a pair of runs in each of the second and third innings.

Three of those runs came on a pair of homers off the bat of Brandon Belt, who also doubled to finish the day 3-for-3.
It was not a great day on the mound for either starter, both of whom are the presumptive No. 5 starters for their respective teams.

Arizona's Robbie Ray allowed four runs on five hits over four innings, while Cain gave up six runs on seven hits in his four innings.
"He just didn't have his best stuff today," D-backs manager Chip Hale said of Ray. "Obviously he wasn't locating, wasn't getting ahead and paid for it."
Said Cain: "I feel that we had a lot to build on, though the line might be a little funky to look at."
After Lamb's homer, his second of the spring, the D-backs added three more runs in the fifth when Jason Bourgeois' drive to the gap in left-center rolled all the way to the wall for an inside-the-park homer that gave Arizona a 9-4 lead.
Up next for the Giants: It's a matchup of National League Cy Young Award contenders, as Madison Bumgarner will confront Cubs ace Jake Arrieta in Thursday's Cactus League exhibition on MLB.TV, starting at 4:05 p.m. PT at Scottsdale, Ariz. But building durability, not outclassing Arrieta, will be Bumgarner's primary goal. Bumgarner has not worked more than three innings in any of his three starts as he prepares for his April 4 Opening Day assignment at Milwaukee.
Up next for the D-backs: Left-hander Anthony Banda will get the start for the D-backs on Thursday, when they travel to Peoria to take on the Padres at 1:10 p.m. MST. Banda is getting the start over Zack Greinke, who will instead pitch in a Minor League game on a backfield at Salt River Fields. Former first-round Draft pick Kyle Drabek is scheduled to follow Banda to the mound.