Allen put right to test in return to D-backs

By Anthony Fenech / MLB.com | 07/16/11

PHOENIX -- How's this for your first at-bat back in the big leagues: pinch-hitting with two on, two out and down two in the ninth inning.

"You get a little antsy," said D-backs first baseman Brandon Allen, who was recalled from Triple-A before Friday's series opener against hte Dodgers. "But I felt comfortable."

Pinch-hitting and facing Dodgers reliever Javy Guerra with the D-backs trailing, 6-4, on Friday, Allen took a ball, then a hack, then another ball to put the count in his favor, before fouling a Guerra fastball straight back to the screen.

"I turned around and asked the ump, he said it was a little up and in," Allen said about the 2-1 pitch. "I was just a little anxious. I wouldn't take that pitch back. I'd let it go."

The next pitch, Allen was caught looking at a fastball low in the zone and hopped out of the box in disgust as the D-backs took the series-opening loss.

"I thought it was low," Allen said. "But I guess it's too close to take."

Allen was in the lineup for Saturday's game against right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, hitting seventh and playing first base.

"I'll be ready whenever they call on me," he said. "Lefty, righty, it doesn't matter. If they want me in there, I'll be in there."