6      5   Final

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Padres 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 5 7 0  D-Backs 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 X 6 8 1

Andrew Bird of Tempe, Ariz. hands the ball to NYC police officer Robert Lynch on Wednesday. Bird lost his dad in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Matt York/AP)

Single-A, Double-A, Triple-A, the Major Leagues, it doesn't matter to Overbay.

Wednesday night, Overbay cracked a pinch-hit, RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Diamondbacks past the Padres, 6-5, in front of 34,217 at Bank One Ballpark.

The win, combined with the Dodgers win over the Giants, increased the D-Backs' lead over both teams to 6 1/2 in the NL West.

Despite only having just five previous big league at-bats, Overbay relished the pressure-filled opportunity.

"That's what you live for," Overbay said. "I just was [looking] to get a good pitch to hit and not try to do too much. You're just looking for a good pitch to drive into the outfield. That's the easiest thing to do. You don't want to roll over to second base."

Overbay was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 18th round in the 1999 First-Year Player Draft. He hit .343 in rookie ball with an astounding 101 RBIs in just 75 games.

The following year, the left-handed swinging first baseman hit .332 at Class A South Bend and .352 at Double-A El Paso. In 2001, he hit .352 for El Paso before a late-season call-up to the Diamondbacks. This season, at Triple-A Tucson, he batted .343.

"That's what he does," Brenly said. "That's all he's done everywhere he's played is hit. This guy has hit .300 everywhere he's every played -- and I don't mean just .301 or .302. He's in the mid .300's, high .300s every year, everywhere he plays. He hits righties and lefties."

The Diamondbacks trailed 5-4 when Steve Finley led off the eighth with a home run to right off San Diego reliever Kevin Walker (0-1). Quinton McCracken followed with a triple, and after David Dellucci struck out, Overbay followed with his single.

The Diamondbacks built a 4-0 lead and appeared to be cruising behind the right arm of starter Miguel Batista. Through the game's first five innings, Batista shut the Padres out, allowing just one infield single.

Things spun out of control for Batista in a hurry in the sixth inning.

The first five batters of the inning went: walk, single, two-run double, RBI single and infield single to cut the lead to 4-3.

After a fielder's choice and a groundout put runners at second and third, Wil Nieves hit a grounder back up the middle that shortstop Tony Womack fielded behind the bag. Womack had trouble getting the ball out of his glove, and his throw to first was late, allowing both runners to score and giving San Diego a 5-4 lead.

After emotional pregame ceremonies commemorating the one-year anniversary of September 11, Arizona wasted little time getting on the scoreboard.

The Diamondbacks scored two runs in the first inning, thanks to Finley's two-run single. Arizona manager Bob Brenly put Finley in the fifth spot in the batting order hoping his red-hot outfielder would get some opportunities to drive in runs. He did, thanks to a single by Mark Grace and back-to-back walks to Junior Spivey and Luis Gonzalez.

Arizona added two runs in the fifth when Grace led off the frame with a single and scored when Spivey followed with a double to left-center. Two outs later, McCracken singled home Spivey and the D-Backs led 4-0.

Steve Gilbert is an editorial producer for MLB.com and can be reached at stevegilberts@aol.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.