An afternoon delight!

It turned out to be an afternoon delight for the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field today.

The treat: A victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-5. How sweet it is! The Diamondbacks move to 90-66 and put the pressure on San Francisco. The Giants (83-71) will need to beat the Dodgers in LA tonight in order to keep the Diamondbacks from doing further damage to that coveted magic number, which is now two and could be reduced to one, if the Giants lose in LA this evening.

As for the Diamondbacks, they'll take a day off tomorrow and await the three-game series with the Giants, which is slated for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Wade Miley (4-2) picked up the win today for the D'backs, while J.J. Putz recorded his 43rd save by striking out the side in the 9th inning. Miguel Montero belted a two-run homer in the first inning as the D'backs jumped on the Pirates early and led 8-1 after three innings of play.

NL West Race Update: The Giants held on and beat the Dodgers, 8-5. San Francisco (84-71) needs to win again on Thursday in LA to keep its slim hopes alive.