PHOENIX — PHOENIX (AP) — One night after letting a five-run lead slip away, Joe Saunders and the Arizona Diamondbacks weren’t going to fall victim to another comeback.
Justin Upton and Ryan Roberts homered and every Arizona starter had at least one hit as the Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4 on Wednesday night, ending the NL West leaders’ six-game winning streak.
“It makes the beer taste better, for sure,” said Saunders, whose broken-bat single was among the Diamondbacks’ 14 hits against five Dodgers pitchers. “We would have liked to get two, but to salvage one game out of the series was nice.”
Willie Bloomquist had three hits, including an RBI triple, and Aaron Hill added three hits and two RBIs as the Diamondbacks won for only the second time in their last 11 home games and snapped a four-game losing streak overall.
“There wasn’t a lot we could do about yesterday,” Bloomquist said. “The way we bounced back and got some runs early was impressive. Last night stung a little bit but you’ve got to bounce back. There’s always a game tomorrow.”
Saunders (3-3) struck out a season-high seven and scattered seven hits across 6 1-3 innings.
“We needed for him to go deep in the game,” Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. “Our bullpen needed the rest.”
Ted Lilly (5-1) went 3 1-3 innings, his shortest outing since September 16, 2010, at San Francisco. He gave up eight runs on nine hits and five walks.
“It was definitely a combination of extremely poor pitching on my part and good hitting,” Lilly said. “It seemed like the very few occasions when I did throw a decent pitch, they got the barrel on those, too.”
A.J. Ellis hit a solo homer in the fourth for the Dodgers, who only have swept Arizona at Chase Field once in the Diamondbacks’ 14-plus-season existence.
Arizona, which entered the game averaging 3.5 runs per game in its past 17 home games, scored in each of the first four innings against Lilly.
Roberts gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead two batters into the bottom of the first, hitting his third home run just over the left-field wall. Hill added a two-out RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
The Diamondbacks made it 4-0 in the second when Bloomquist tripled home Henry Blanco, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Roberts.
Gerardo Parra had an RBI single in the third, Jason Kubel hit a two-run triple in the fourth and Hill added his second run-scoring single of the game, also in the fourth, to put the Diamondbacks ahead 8-0 and chase Lilly.
Roberts recorded his third RBI on a grounder in the fifth, just ahead of Upton’s opposite-field home run that extended Arizona’s lead to 11-1.
“I guess I only hit the ball the other way now,” Upton said. “Anytime you can square a ball up makes you feel better about your approach.”
Los Angeles pieced together two hits and three walks to score three runs in the seventh against Saunders.
NOTES: Dodgers 3B Justin Sellers was a late scratch with numbness in his right leg and replaced by Adam Kennedy. Sellers will undergo an MRI exam on Thursday. … The Diamondbacks’ multirun first inning was their first since April 28, a span of 23 games. … Bloomquist is riding an eight-game winning streak, with six multihit games in his past seven. … Dodgers RF Andre Ethier was given his first day off after appearing in Los Angeles’ first 43 games. … Arizona RHP Daniel Hudson, out since April 21 with a right shoulder impingement, is on track to start Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers. … After an off-day on Thursday, RHP Ian Kennedy will take the mound for the Diamondbacks against Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers. Kennedy is 0-4 with a 5.92 ERA in his past four starts after posting a 9-0 mark in his previous 12 dating back to last season. … NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw will face Houston RHP Lucas Harrell on Friday at Dodger Stadium. Kershaw is coming off his fourth career shutout on Saturday against St. Louis.
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