"The helmet was gone before he even hit third base, discarded by a giddy Justin Upton as if it were some notion of a sweep by the San Francisco Giants.

Upton's first career walk-off home run gave the Diamondbacks a 3-2, 10-inning win over the first-place Giants on Thursday night at Chase Field, allowing them to salvage the finale of the series and move a game closer to top of the NL West.

"It's awesome, after we dropped two games, to win in that fashion," said Upton, who was mobbed by teammates at home plate. "Hopefully it's a little bit of a boost."

Their closer blew a save, they gave away a run on an error, they couldn't hit with men in scoring position and they were unable to get down a sacrifice bunt. No, it wasn't pretty - for the Diamondbacks, none of this series was, really - but they'll take the win, and their manager thinks they'll learn from it.

"It's disappointing we didn't play so well," Gibson said. "They put a lot of pressure on us, and we didn't respond as good as we could have. To get a win, everybody could feel it. We'll be better because of it. We'll play better. We'll get back on track. But it was good to get one."

That's not to say the night was a total disaster for the Diamondbacks, who got another dynamite performance from right-hander Ian Kennedy and a two-run home run from Chris Young, a blast that looked to be all they would need as they handed a 2-1 lead to the usually reliable closer J.J. Putz.

Putz's inning was an example of just how easy it is to blow a save. With two strikes on leadoff batter Pablo Sandoval, catcher Miguel Montero couldn't hold onto a foul tip. Instead of a strikeout, Sandoval had new life and took advantage, guiding a single through the middle."