Major League Baseball

Citi can't contain D-backs slugger Reynolds

Published Aug. 4, 2009 4:15 a.m. ET

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Mark Reynolds heard all about the dimensions at Citi Field from fellow third basemen David Wright of the Mets and Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals. Reynolds' brother, Kyle, even wished him luck before the trip to the Big Apple.

It turns out New York's spacious new ballpark was no match for Arizona's surging slugger.

Reynolds hit two more home runs at Citi Field on his 26th birthday, powering Dan Haren and the Diamondbacks to a 6-5 victory over the scuffling Mets on Monday night.

"There's not a park in the big leagues that can hold him when he gets a hold of one," Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said.

Reynolds and Miguel Montero capped the Diamondbacks' three-run first with only the second set of back-to-back homers at New York's plush new field. Reynolds added a 420-foot, two-run shot off Nelson Figueroa in the second.

Gerardo Parra had three hits and drove in a run for the Diamondbacks, who nearly blew a six-run lead. Haren (11-6) allowed five runs and eight hits over seven innings, and is 7-2 with a 2.44 ERA in his last 10 starts.

"It didn't go quite as planned for me but got the runs early and just barely got it to hold up," Haren said.

Daniel Murphy homered and Luis Castillo drove in two runs for New York, which has lost four of five after winning five consecutive games.

Arizona won three of four in the series behind Reynolds, who put up impressive numbers despite resting during Sunday's 5-2 victory. The slugger went 5 for 12 with four homers and five RBIs against New York.

"It is a big park but I just happened to hit four of the longest ones I've ever hit here," he said.

Reynolds has seven long balls in his last seven games to give him 32 on the year and is batting .387 (24 for 62) with eight homers since the All-Star break. He is tied with Wright with four homers at Citi Field this season.

"Yeah, I'm going to text him that in a little bit," Reynolds said with a grin.

The Diamondbacks led 6-0 after two innings against Figueroa (1-1), who was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo with New York needing a fill-in starter because of a rainout last week and subsequent doubleheader. The right-hander, who grew up rooting for the Mets in Brooklyn, failed to make it out of the second in his second start for New York this season.

"They were on every pitch, no soft outs," he said.

Parra had an RBI single in the first and Justin Upton singled in a run in the second against Figueroa, who allowed a career-high 10 hits in 1 2-3 innings.

Four relievers combined to shut out the Diamondbacks after Figueroa left, giving New York a chance to rally. Castillo hit a two-run single in the Mets' three-run fifth and Murphy went deep for his seventh homer to make it 6-5 in the sixth.

New York had a chance to tie it in the eighth but couldn't come up with a big hit. Gary Sheffield doubled with one out against Jon Rauch but Murphy fouled out and Jeff Francoeur hit a harmless bouncer to third to end the inning. Chad Qualls then worked a perfect ninth for his 20th save in 24 opportunities.

"I had a chance to drive Sheff in and he beat me," Murphy said. "That was the biggest at-bat of the game for me."

Ryan Roberts tied a career high with three hits and Stephen Drew went 2 for 5 for the Diamondbacks, who finished with 13 hits.

Notes

Arizona ace Brandon Webb had season-ending shoulder surgery. Hinch said Webb should be able to play catch in three to four months. Webb's agent, Jonathan Maurer, said in a text message that the 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner will start throwing in October. ... Mets ace Johan Santana allowed the first set of back-to-back homers at Citi Field when Philadelphia's Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez connected in the fourth inning of New York's 6-5 victory on June 9, according to STATS LLC. ... The Mets announced RHP Elmer Dessens cleared waivers and was outrighted to Buffalo.