HOUSTON — Chris Young loves playing in his hometown.
Young matched a career high with four hits, Aaron Hill hit a three-run homer in a nine-run fifth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks routed the Houston Astros 12-4 on Saturday night.
Young also drove in three runs and finished a triple shy of the cycle. He has hit safely in eight straight games against the Astros.
“For some reason when I get here and have my all family here, I am able to make every situation a big-game situation, and it’s been good so far,” Young said. “It could be coincidence, but for the last five or six years I have come here, I have been able to get comfortable. I have been able to get my footing in the box pretty well.”
After the game, the major league-worst Astros fired manager Brad Mills, hitting coach Mike Barnett and first base coach Bobby Meacham. Mills was in his third season as manager.
The Astros (39-82) said first-year general manager Jeff Luhnow will name an interim manager and other staff members in a news conference Sunday morning.
Mills became the first big league manager to be fired this season. He was 76-86 in his first season with Houston and a franchise-worst 56-106 last year.
Justin Upton added two hits for Arizona and Ryan Wheeler hit his first major league home run.
Young, who has struggled since coming off the disabled list May 17, is batting .419 with five home runs and 20 RBIs in his career at Minute Maid Park.
“Since I have been here, it has been unbelievable what he has done here,” Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. “Coming into this trip, I was hoping this would happen, so I started to play him again.”
Patrick Corbin (5-4) went seven innings, allowing four runs and seven hits with five strikeouts. Corbin has three straight wins in four outings since moving back into the rotation at the beginning of August. He has gone at least six innings in each of those starts.
“I didn’t think I was the sharpest I have been lately,” Corbin said. “There were a couple pitches I would like to take back, but I felt pretty good. I was glad to go out there and give them seven innings.”
Jordan Lyles (2-10) lost his sixth straight, giving up seven runs — five earned — on eight hits and three walks in four-plus innings. In his career against Arizona, he has allowed 22 runs — 17 earned — in 14 2-3 innings.
“He has thrown the ball well the last few starts, but there are times that he will go out there and he has problems getting out of an inning,” Mills said. “We were kind of hoping that (third inning) was that inning that he was going to have a tough time getting out of. But the fifth inning, and not being able to get out any of the first six guys . that was huge.”
Lyles has struggled this season when facing a lineup for the third time. He said he was lucky to get through the fourth with just one run allowed, but he doesn’t know if there is an answer to how he can get through a lineup the third time through.
“Maybe it is just something where I will turn the corner one day and not look back,” he said. “But right now, I need to work on it, learn from it, and do a better job of keeping our team in the game, unlike I did tonight.”
Houston has lost three straight and eight of 11. The Astros have the worst record in the majors at 39-82.
The Diamondbacks chased Lyles in the fifth when six straight batters reached base. Arizona sent 12 men to the plate during the inning against three Houston pitchers.
“Everybody was kind of on the same page today on offense,” Young said. “We haven’t been able to put up too many runs lately, and everybody came out swinging the bats well today. I was kind of along for the ride, but it was fun.”
Hill capped the outburst with a homer to left field off Chuckie Fick to extend Arizona’s lead to 10-3.
Gerardo Parra started the inning with a double before Hill walked. Upton followed with an RBI single to cut Houston’s lead to 3-2, and Paul Goldschmidt singled to tie it.
After Miguel Montero walked to load the bases, Young singled to give Arizona a 4-3 lead and Xavier Cedeno relieved Lyles. Cedeno didn’t fare much better, walking Stephen Drew to force in a run before two more scored on an error by second baseman Jose Altuve.
Tyler Greene hit a solo home run in the bottom half to trim Arizona’s lead to 10-4.
Wheeler connected in the seventh, a solo shot off Fick to make it 11-4, and Young added a solo homer off Rhiner Cruz in the eighth.
Chris Snyder put the Astros ahead 3-1 with a two-run homer in the fourth.
Houston tied it at 1 in the third on Greene’s run-scoring single.
Arizona took the lead in the second on an RBI double by Young.
NOTES: Arizona OF Jason Kubel did not start for a second straight game after being scratched Friday with a sore neck. … Diamondbacks 3B Chris Johnson did not start for the second time since being traded to Arizona from Houston. He is hitless in his last 16 at-bats. … Altuve leads the Astros with 39 extra-base hits. … Houston will send Armando Galarraga (0-3, 5.75 ERA) to the mound Sunday against Arizona RHP Ian Kennedy (10-10, 4.35).
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