Cahill earns first win as Diamondbacks beat Rockies

DENVER — Trevor Cahill earned his first win for Arizona with an outing Sunday that Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson called “very dominant.”

The Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 5-2 as Cahill, acquired from Oakland in the offseason, held the Rockies to four singles and one run in 7 1-3 innings.

Chris Young homered and drove in three runs, and Aaron Hill singled home Arizona’s final two runs in the fifth.

Last Tuesday in his Diamondbacks’ debut, Cahill (1-0) gave up only two hits and one run in six innings at San Diego. But he walked six and wasn’t involved in the decision as Arizona won 4-2.

Cahill had little trouble with a Rockies lineup that included five bench players. He got 13 outs on groundballs, struck out six and walked two.

“Kind of just being more aggressive,” Cahill said. “Not trying to be too fine, first pitch especially. Just let the sinker work. I told (catcher) Henry (Blanco) before I went out there, ‘I’m just going to try and throw as many strikes as I can. If they hit me, they hit me.’”

The Diamondbacks lost each of the first two of games of the series by one run, getting beat on Todd Helton’s double in the eighth inning Friday and his game-ending, two-run homer Saturday.

Arizona survived an anxious eighth and spoiled Drew Pomeranz’s first start of the season for the Rockies.

Pomeranz (0-1) gave up nine hits and five runs in 4 1-3 innings and threw 100 pitches, including 32 in the first when Justin Upton singled with two out and Young followed with a homer on a 3-2 pitch.

“He actually had pretty good life on his fastball, a little cut on it,” Young said. “A couple I fouled back. He jammed me a little bit, so I tried to just be ready a little sooner. Tried to make the adjustment and it worked out for me.”

Young singled home a run with two out in the third. That hit scored Gerardo Parra, who reached on a forceout and then stole second and third base. The Diamondbacks stole four bases off the 23-year-old Pomeranz.

“I’ve said many times, if there’s something available, then we take it and we felt there was,” Gibson said. “He’s a young kid. We pushed the envelope there. The guys did a good job with that. I think he got a little unraveled there from time to time.”

Pomeranz, the key acquistion in the July 2011 trade that sent pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland, was making his fifth major league start and first this season. He began the year at Double-A Tulsa and was activated Sunday when the Rockies first needed a fifth starter.

He pitched four scoreless innings Tuesday at Tulsa after a scintillating spring when he went 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA and four walks and 11 strikeouts in 17 innings.

“His command was not quite where we saw it in spring training,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “I think a big part of that, he struggled with his breaking ball. He was throwing a lot of breaking balls today where he was trying to get involved in the count.”

Pomeranz said, “I threw a lot of balls down the middle. I’m usually pretty good about staying on the corner. I missed over the middle of the plate.”

After Cahill left with a runner on second in the eighth with a 5-0 lead, the Rockies loaded the bases with a walk and a bunt single before scoring on a fielder’s choice and Troy Tulowitzki’s single.

Left-hander Craig Breslow came on and got ahead of Jason Giambi 0-2 but walked him to load the bases. Reliever Brian Shaw retired pinch hitter Ramon Hernandez on a grounder and retired the side in order in the ninth for his second save.

Gibson typically uses Daniel Hernandez in the eighth before closer J.J. Putz but after Shaw finished the eighth, Gibson stayed with him to finish the game.

“He was up, he was warm,” Gibson said. “I felt he was a good guy to get it done quickly for us. We just had a good feel about him and at the same time, give him some late inning experience. He’s fearless and you feel very confident with him in there.”

NOTES: Rockies LF Carlos Gonzalez missed his second straight game because of strep throat. … The Diamondbacks have scored in the first in seven of their nine games, totaling 13 of their 43 total runs in those innings. … Rockies starters have worked a total of 11 innings in the past three games. Their bullpen has pitched 35 innings in nine games. … Jeremy Guthrie will start Monday for the Rockies against the San Diego Padres. The Diamondbacks will start Joe Saunders against the Pirates.