"The count was 3-0 in the eighth inning on Tuesday night, and when Justin Upton saw his manager had given him the green light, he went through a handful of mental checkpoints.

Make sure it's a strike. Look for a fastball over the plate. Don't swing out of your shoes.

When the fastball from Felipe Paulino sailed down the middle, Upton did just what he had told himself to do, and his opposite-field home run lifted the Diamondbacks to a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies in the opening game of a three-game series at Chase Field.

"With a guy throwing that hard - Paulino is running it up there pretty good - anything in, you may not be able to get the head (of the bat) to," Upton said. "So you definitely try to get something out over the plate. That's where he went."

Though many managers would want their leadoff batter to take with the count 3-0, it was no surprise that Kirk Gibson allowed Upton to swing away. Since he took over as manager midway through last season, he routinely has given his hitters the green light. He thinks they're beginning to see the benefits of the learning experience.

"When I was here at the end (of last season), I told you I was going to let them do that because I wanted them to become better at it," Gibson said. "It's much the same as when you get ahead in any count. As a hitter you get energy in your body and you jump at the ball and overswing, and 3-0 is even worse. . . .

"The way we talk about it, you look at it like it's batting practice. You're looking for something right down the middle. You have to be disciplined to put a good, short swing on it. If you overswing you just make an out."

Upton certainly didn't overswing, taking the 96 mph Paulino fastball out to right field, snapping a 3-3 tie."