With their playoff hopes perhaps riding on the play of the San Francisco Giants, Diamondbacks backup catcher Henry Blanco knew it would be a tough sell to convince people that he and his teammates wouldn’t be paying attention.

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Diamondbacks-Pirates photos | Play-by-play | Box score | NL standings | Scoreboard

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So he said what most his teammates probably were thinking: Not only would the Diamondbacks be watching, they’d be rooting for San Francisco to win so they could clinch the division this weekend – on their home field, in front of their home fans.

“That’s something special,” Blanco said after the Diamondbacks trimmed their magic number to two with an 8-5 matinee-game victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday at Chase Field.

“I think that’s the fun part. You celebrate on the field with the fans. That’s the way I look at it. I think that’s going to be something special. Especially playing against them (the Giants). I hope it happens that way. If not, we’re going to celebrate anyway.”

Blanco got his wish, as the Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 on Wednesday night. The Diamondbacks are off Thursday, and the Giants conclude their series at Dodger Stadium that night.

If the Giants had lost both games, the Diamondbacks would have clinched the division title. But because they won Wednesday night, this weekend’s series at Chase Field will have added significance.

Regardless of the NL West scenario, this weekend’s games still will be of importance. Wednesday’s victory put the Diamondbacks at 90-66, one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers (91-65) for the second-best record in the National League and home-field advantage in the division series.

Blanco has been to the playoffs five times and said he relishes the opportunity to celebrate with fans who have supported the team all season.

“You never know when you’re going to celebrate again,” Blanco said.

Of course, Blanco and others said they would be content celebrating one way or the other.

“Either way, it don’t matter,” third baseman Ryan Roberts said Wednesday. ” . . . The ultimate thing would be to dogpile and then come in with the champagne and dump it on each other. That’s what everybody wants to do, but a clinch is a clinch and a playoff spot is a playoff spot.”

Diamondbacks rewind

Quick strike: The Diamondbacks jumped on Pirates right-hander Ross Ohlendorf in the first inning, scoring three times before he had recorded two outs.

Willie Bloomquist shot a single through the middle, and Aaron Hill reached on a bunt single. After they moved to second and third on a double steal, Justin Upton made it 1-0 on a sacrifice fly to center field.

Miguel Montero followed by launching a 2-0 change-up in to the right-field seats for his 18th home run of the season.

Pouring it on: The Diamondbacks added five more runs in the third with Chris Young (RBI single), Ryan Roberts (two-run double) and Hill (two-run single) delivering big hits.

The Diamondbacks, who had averaged two runs scored over their previous six games, were 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Fighting back: The Pirates chipped away at the lead, scoring single runs in five innings.

“They used 15 total position players, six pitchers,” Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. “They came at us with everything they had.”

With runners on second and third in the eighth, Gibson went to left-handed reliever Joe Paterson to face the switch-hitting Ryan Doumit, who bounced out to shortstop on an 0-2 pitch to end the threat.

“That was the at-bat of the game,” Gibson said.

View from the press box

The Diamondbacks have to hope these past couple of days are just an aberration for their relievers not named J.J. Putz. Right-hander David Hernandez, in his first action in a week, was hit hard Tuesday night, and right-handers Micah Owings, Brad Ziegler and Bryan Shaw each were charged with runs Wednesday. The Diamondbacks probably going to need those guys to come up big next month.

PHOENIX – Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew broke his right ankle sliding into home plate in the bottom of the fourth inning against Milwaukee on Wednesday night.

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Warning graphic content: Drew injury

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The Diamondbacks said surgery was likely for the team’s everyday shortstop, the anchor of the team’s defense. Drew and Milwaukee center fielder Carlos Gomez were injured moments apart in the bottom of the fourth inning Wednesday night.

Drew was injured trying to score from second on Chris Young’s base hit to left field. Drew, out on the play, grimaced in pain and signaled for help from the dugout. He did not put any weight on his right foot as he was helped from the field by trainers.

Moments later, Gomez fractured his left clavicle, made on a brilliant catch of Ryan Roberts’ short flyball. He immediately grabbed his shoulder or collar bone area.

Gomez is the backup to regular center fielder Nyjer Morgan.

It’s not that the Rockies are losing, which they did again 2-1 Wednesday night to the Arizona Diamondbacks. It’s how they are losing and where it has led them.

Two weeks into the season the Rockies owned baseball’s best record. They woke up today in third place, a half-game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The good news is that the Rockies are in every game. The bad news is that they aren’t winning any of them. They’ve lost nine of their last 10 one-run decisions, which is, on first glance, an indictment of the offense. Truth is, it runs deeper than that.

Similar to Sunday’s loss in Milwaukee, one at-bat loomed larger than others. That game dissolved when Ubaldo Jimenez grounded into a doubleplay. Wednesday, Arizona

center fielder Chris Young robbed the Rockies.

With Arizona leading 2-1 in the eighth, Ty Wigginton drilled a line drive to center field. The sound oozed home run. Young had another outcome in mind. He raced to the fence and jumped, his glove over the fence as he made the catch.

Jason Hammel was the most notable victim. He worked seven innings, allowing zero earned runs on five hits and two walks. While the Diamondbacks scratched and claw to produce runs, stealing four bases, the Rockies’ offense remained a rumor.

They fell to 12-12 at home, in large part, because they have scored three runs or less 11 times at Coors Field.

Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com

Mike Quade prefers to think of all the good things the Cubs showed him in their first homestand rather then dwell on their record.

Chicago made three errors Wednesday in a 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks that dropped the team to 3-3 in a season that began with series’ against a pair of last-place ballclubs.

The Cubs lost two of three to the Pirates, last in the NL Central last season, then took two of three from Arizona, the West’s worst last year.

“There is so much good to take out of this even though you lost,” Quade, in his first full season as Cubs manager. “You hope to build on through the season.

“There was a lot of good to take out of what I saw on this homestand,” he said. “I would have liked to have taken all that good stuff and been 5-1 or 4-2, but that’s OK.”

Quade’s day began with the news that Cubs starters Randy Wells (right forearm strain) and Andrew Cashner (strain in right rotator cuff) were headed to the 15-day disabled list.

“Everybody understands that we’re going to need contributions from all over the place,” Quade said. “I don’t think anybody is going to try to do too much.”

Alfonso Soriano hit his third homer of the season but made an error in the field, and Aramis Ramirez hit his second for Chicago.

“We’ve talked about the speed (Soriano) no longer possesses and how his power numbers are going to be so important for us,” said Quade. “Boy, three home runs in a homestand is pretty good. That’s a nice pace.”

Chris Young drove in two runs, scored twice and made a pair of nice catches in center field as Arizona ended its eight-game losing streak against the Cubs.

“(Young) had a great game, offensively and defensively,” Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. “He made three great plays, hustled on the bases. I moved him up and it was big for us. He had a great game.”

Armando Galarraga (1-0) won in his first career NL start, giving up five hits and four runs in 7 1-3 innings. J.J. Putz pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

“He pitched good,” said Gibson. “Gave us seven-plus. He wanted to stay in there, but he’d done his job. Over 90 pitches, first start out. Our bullpen, good support for them to gain confidence as well.”

Gerardo Parra had three hits and scored a run and Miguel Montero hit his second homer of the season for the Diamondbacks.

Ryan Dempster (0-2) gave up five runs — four earned — and 10 hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter.

“I made a lot of good pitches today,” Dempster said. “Sometimes, if you just make a little better pitches here and there it would have helped to get ahead in the count. For the most part, I like the way I was throwing the ball.”

After the Cubs tied it in the fourth, Arizona scored three times in the fifth.

Young lifted a flyball into the left-field corner, which Soriano tracked to the wall. But the ball glanced off his glove as he reached the yet-to-bloom ivy. The play was scored a double. Young went to third when a relay throw got away from Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, who was charged with an error on the play, and scored on Kelly Johnson’s double.

In the third Soriano was charged with an error backing up a play.

Young hit a sinking drive to center. Cubs center fielder Marlon Byrd, in an effort to save a run, raced in and reached for a shoestring catch. He came up short and the ball rolled well behind him.

“An inch here and there, I catch that ball and it’s 0-0 instead of 2-0,” said Byrd. “I’m always going to be aggressive. Hopefully, I’m going to get that ball the next time.”

Soriano bobbled the ball while backing up Byrd. That allowed Young to score. The play was scored a triple. An error was charged to Soriano.

“Sori was busting, trying to get that ball,” said Quade. “He was trying to be too quick getting the ball into the infield. (You have to realize) it’s a triple, so secure the ball and get the ball into the infielders.”

Soriano agreed, but added that he needs to be able to make the difficult plays.

“The second one, I got very close and the ball hit my glove,” said Soriano. “I think I can get better. They were two tough plays, but I’m going to keep working and make those plays.” Now the Cubs head to Milwaukee to begin their first road trip of the season.

“We played well,” Byrd said. “There are no negatives. Now it’s time to go on the road and see what we’re made of.”

NOTES: Relegated to pinch-hitting duties is Chicago first baseman Carlos Pena, who has a right thumb strain. Quade said Pena is “feeling better” and is getting close to returning ot full-time duty. … Former Chicago Bulls player and current television analyst Stacey King threw out Wednesday’s ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field and sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch. The lefty shooter threw out the first pitch right-handed. … After a couple of rare days under 30,000, the Cubs announced an attendance of 32,272 for Wednesday’s game.

The first thing people say about Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero – especially if they know him well – is that he has an infectious personality.

They will say he’s a high-energy, colorful character who brings enthusiasm and comic relief to the clubhouse on a daily basis.

Former Diamondbacks third baseman Mark Reynolds used to refer to him as a walking reality show waiting to happen.

“All he needs is a microphone and a TV camera to follow him around everywhere and he’d have a hit show,” Reynolds, who now plays for the Orioles, said last season.

Predictably, the first thing Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said Wednesday when asked about his starting catcher was more of the same.

What does he like most about Montero?

“He’s enthusiastic, No. 1, and he brings a good attitude all the time,” Gibson said. “Miggy always has energy.”

That probably will never change, but the affable Montero wants to be known for much more than his humor and charm. He wants to be considered among the game’s better catchers.

Asking Will Ferrell to play the leading man in a serious role might be more of a stretch. According to scouting services and many baseball insiders, Montero already is viewed as a catcher on the rise.

“There’s a lot of good players out there, but I consider myself one of them, too,” Montero said. “The thing is, you have to battle every day in this game. To be the best, you really, really have to work at it.”

Among National League catchers with at least 1,100 plate appearances since 2007, Montero ranks fourth with a .443 slugging percentage, seventh with a .267 batting average, eighth with 40 home runs and 10th with a .332 on-base percentage.

And he’s played in only 283 games the past three seasons.

One of his goals this season is to make the All-Star Game, which will be played at Chase Field on July 12.

“That would be outstanding,” Montero, 27, said. “If I go to the All-Star Game, I’m not going to act different or change my approach, though. I’ve got to keep playing the same way and do things right.

“But man, that would be awesome. Even better would be going to the All-Star Game and winning it, especially with it being in Phoenix this year.”

For the first time in his major-league career, Montero has a mentor. It’s his backup, 39-year-old Henry Blanco.

“He wants to learn, and he’s got all the tools,” Gibson said of Montero, “but he’s got a guy in Henry this year who can really help him out. When we sent ‘Schmitty’ (catcher Konrad Schmidt) down, he couldn’t say enough about how much Henry taught him.

“So Miggy’s got a great mentor and like I said, he wants to learn. He wants to be great.”

Will he be?

“I don’t know,” Gibson said. “Time will tell. I hope so. That’s a tough task right there.”

Gibson paused and mentioned his former manager, the late Sparky Anderson.

“I would hope I’ve learned from my own mentor, Sparky, that I shouldn’t make predictions like that. Sparky had a habit of doing that and then it was disaster. I don’t want to jinx anybody.”

Notes

The numbers are gaudy good. And in baseball, numbers like that really matter. But do they matter in spring training? Ryan Roberts, trying yet again to win a job as a utility player with the Diamondbacks, will find out soon enough.

Gibson has another week to formulate decisions before announcing his 25-man roster for Opening Day. If he puts much emphasis into Cactus League statistics, Gibson might not be able to leave Ryan Roberts off the team. Through 24 games, Roberts was leading all major-leaguers with a .614 on-base percentage and 13 walks. He also was tied for first with a .500 batting average and was tied for fifth with 21 hits.

Should he sweat or relax? Roberts said he is taking nothing for granted but isn’t going to worry how thinks shake out.

“I thought about that in 2007, 2008, 2009 and last year,” he said Wednesday before Arizona’s game against the Rangers at Surprise Stadium. “This year, I really don’t think about it that much. I really don’t. It’s out of my control. All I want to do is go out and play and let the cards fall where they fall.”

“I’m not worried about who’s making the team, who’s not making the team. Whatever happens, happens. What I worry about is how I prepare myself for the season and that’s it. Everything else, I can’t control so I’m not worried about none of that.”

Roberts is out of minor league options, meaning the Diamondbacks would have to expose him to waivers if he doesn’t start the season with the team. Presently, he’s competing with several candidates for a role on the bench.

“I knew coming in that this year was pretty much make or break for me,” Roberts said.

- The Diamondbacks have until Friday to determine whether first baseman Russell Branyan will be part of their future. The non-roster invitee has an opt-out clause that allows him to seek employment elsewhere if Arizona doesn’t commit to placing him on its active roster.

Gibson declined to get into specifics but has liked what he has seen from the veteran Branyan, who clobbered a grand slam in the seventh inning, his fourth homer this spring.

“He’s been great,” Gibson said. “He’s worked hard on his defense, he’s swinging the bat outstanding, and he’s a good guy.” He’s got a great sense of humor and he really studies the game probably more than most people realize.”

“Since the first couple of games, what play hasn’t he made? If he was on the team, he would definitely bring a big power bat. If he wasn’t in the lineup, he’d bring huge power off the bench.”

- Closer J.J. Putz (lower-back stiffness) played long toss again Wednesday and also threw some flat-ground pitches. Gibson said the next step is a bullpen session Friday with hopes of having Putz pitch in a game Sunday.

It doesn’t look as good for veteran infielder Geoff Blum (knee), who might have to open the season on the disabled list. Gibson said Blum could start the season with the team but added, “it gets slimmer every day.”

Infielder Tony Abreu, meanwhile, was scratched from Wednesday’s starting lineup after reporting back tightness during batting practice.

D-Backs report

At Surprise Stadium

Diamondbacks 9, Rangers 8

At the plate: DH Russell Branyan had two hits, including a grand slam to center in the seventh inning, that gave Arizona an 8-7 lead. It was his fourth homer this spring. “He’s making a good case, for sure,” manager Kirk Gibson said of Branyan’s chances to make the team. “He’s swinging the bat really good, especially against lefties. He’s done well.” CF Chris Young hit a two-run double and 2B Willie Bloomquist and 1B Xavier Nady each had two hits.

On the mound: RHP Daniel Hudson, slated to be the No. 2 starter, gave up eight hits and seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. But thanks to two errors, only one run was earned. The Rangers, though, teed off on him in the third inning, collecting five hits with two outs. Hudson said later that he might have been tipping his pitches, particular his fastball, and plans to watch video of his outing today with pitching coach Charles Nagy. “He’ll be fine. He’s throwing good, he’s healthy, that’s all we care about,” Gibson said. RHP Juan Gutierrez pitched his sixth consecutive scoreless inning and has five strikeouts and no walks in that span.

Diamondbacks record: 10-20.

Thursday: Diamondbacks LHP Joe Saunders vs. Athletics LHP Bobby Cramer, 1:10 p.m., Salt River Fields.

Right-hander Aaron Heilman has made at least 70 relief appearances for five years in a row. He is among an exclusive group of relievers with as much durability – and, yet, he doesn’t count himself as one of their kind.

Diamondbacks spring training 2011 | 2011 schedule

“I guess I’ve always considered myself a starter,” he said.

It’s an unusual point of view from someone who hasn’t started a game in the majors since 2005, but Heilman is out to change that this spring.

He re-signed with the Diamondbacks in large part because he was told he would have an opportunity to compete for a spot in the starting rotation. If he doesn’t win a job, he’s expected to assume a familiar role in the bullpen.

A starter in college at Notre Dame, in the minors and early in his big-league career with the New York Mets, Heilman shed weight in the off-season – how much, he won’t say – and appears more athletic as he embarks on the competition.

“I worked hard in the off-season and tried to prepare myself as best I can,” he said. “More cardio, more endurance. I felt like I needed to be able to handle throwing seven or eight innings and doing it multiple times.”

Still, the competition doesn’t appear as open as it did the day he signed a one-year, $2 million deal in January. The club has since acquired right-hander Armando Galarraga and his $2.3 million salary from the Tigers. Galarraga and left-hander Zach Duke figure to have legs up for the Nos. 4 and 5 spots.

But Heilman is confident he’ll get a fair shake.

“I talked to (GM) Kevin (Towers) and Gibby (manager Kirk Gibson) before I signed, and that was one thing that I asked them,” he said. “I’m confident I was getting an honest answer. I’m not asking for them to give me a spot. I’m asking for a legitimate chance to compete and to have as legitimate a chance as anybody else to make the rotation.”

Seeing southpaws

Despite having personnel that they expected to feast on left-handed pitching, the Diamondbacks haven’t fared as well as Gibson would have liked in recent seasons.

To help the club better prepare, he and hitting coach Don Baylor are planning to bring in more lefties to throw batting practice.

Former big-leaguer Ed Vosberg threw batting practice this week, and Gibson said former Diamondbacks outfielder Steve Finley is another lefty expected to help out in camp in the coming weeks.

Broadcast alerts

Eighteen of the Diamondbacks’ 37 Cactus League games will be on television, radio or the Internet.

The Feb. 26 home opener at Salt River Fields will be on FSAZ Plus, and the March 13 and 21 games will be on FSAZ.

All four of their Wednesday games will be shown on the Web at dbacks.com.

Eleven games will be broadcast on the radio by KTAR-AM (620).

Tucson benefit

The Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox will host an exhibition at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium (formerly Tucson Electric Park) at 1 p.m. March 7, with proceeds going to the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Fund.

Christina-Taylor, 9, the daughter of John Green, a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and grand-daughter of former major-league manager Dallas Green, was killed in last month’s shooting in Tucson.