PHOENIX -- Paul Goldschmidt doesn't think as many people knew about his home run against the Astros on Thursday night.

"I had a few texts," he said. "But I had more for my debut."

Goldschmidt said he was greeted by about 20 text messages after his ninth-inning, pinch-hit, game-tying home run to send the game into extra innings, where Chris Young eventually ended it in walk-off fashion for an 8-5 victory in 10 innings.

"There's a lot of guys from [Double-A] Mobile that I keep in touch with, and family members and stuff like that," he said.

D-backs manager Kirk Gibson thinks the home run was a product of the time the rookie first baseman has put in trying to improve at the plate.

"The kid really asks a lot of questions, and he's had a lot of conversations," Gibson said on Thursday. "He's put in extra work -- is trying to understand at-bats, breaking balls -- and he battled."

In a 2-2 count, after fouling off another Mark Melancon breaking ball with a good swing, the Astros' right-handed closer left a fastball over the middle of the plate that Goldschmidt crushed.

"The second breaking ball he fouled off, he had a pretty good swing on," Gibson said. "Then, [Melancon] tried to get the fastball in, and he's very quick in there. That's a big at-bat from a youngster, there."

And while Goldschmidt didn't know how much he could draw from that at-bat, he said, "It doesn't hurt, that's for sure."

Saunders looks back on effort vs. Astros

PHOENIX -- For the last couple of starts, Joe Saunders could have used a Band-Aid on the mound.

"Looking back," he said, assessing Thursday night's start against the Astros, "there was maybe one decently hard-hit ball and, other than that, it was off the end of the bat, broken bats, bloopers to right, bloopers up the middle and seeing-eye ground balls."

Saunders pitched into the seventh before being removed, after allowing back-to-back hits to score a run to open the inning. The D-backs eventually won, 8-5.

His final line was six-plus innings pitched, with five runs allowed on 11 hits and a pair of strikeouts and walks.

"You do your job, make your pitches, and that's all you can ask for," the left-hander said.

He allowed a third-inning RBI single to Carlos Lee, and got himself into trouble in the fifth by walking Brett Myers to open the inning. A two-run double by J.D. Martinez and an RBI groundout by Lee later, and the Astros had a 4-0 lead.

"They're a tough team to pitch to, honestly," Saunders said. "We found that out with our other guys.

"It was a battle out there," he continued. "I tried to keep us in the ballgame the best I could, and got as many outs as I could."

Saunders is 8-9 on the season with a 3.76 ERA.

Bloomquist's at-bat keys rally vs. Houston

PHOENIX -- Lost in the aftermath of a dramatic walk-off win on Thursday night was an eighth-inning walk that set the wheels in motion for another D-backs comeback.

Trailing, 5-1, with one out against Astros right-hander Brett Myers, who kept the D-backs' offense in check most of the night, shortstop Willie Bloomquist drew a nine-pitch walk.

"It was huge," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. "He just kind of kept grinding pitches away. And when you're on the other side, you're looking for a quick inning. And then, all of a sudden, it was us giving notice that it wasn't going to be the case."

Bloomquist fell behind 0-2 -- taking a strike before fouling two off, then drawing three balls and fouling off two pitches, before reaching base on a low fastball.

"I was just trying to get a pitch to handle," Bloomquist said. "He didn't give me much to hit all day. He was on the edge of the plate all day long and didn't leave a whole lot over the middle of the plate.

"He threw pretty much the kitchen sink at me. I was trying to get something over the plate that I could put good wood on. But he just kept throwing everything on the edge, and the best I could do was foul it off. And I ended up getting into a full count and walked."

Bloomquist checked his swing twice on breaking balls, reached base and scored a batter later after Ryan Roberts doubled. Miguel Montero then drove Roberts home with a two-out single, and the D-backs cut a four-run deficit to two and Myers was pulled.

"It was good, and it kind of sets a good example for the rest of his teammates," Gibson said. "Kind of turns them on, too."