(Sports Network) - The Arizona Diamondbacks were looking to take advantage of
a disappointing Miami Marlins club and keep pace in the National League West
on Monday.
Instead, the D-Backs were routed on their home turf and will try to rebound in
the second contest of this three-day, four-game series.
Arizona came into the opener having won four in a row, one off its season-high
winning streak. Things looked good when it got a solo homer from Jason Kubel
in the first inning, but Miami responded with a nine-run fourth inning and
cruised to a 12-3 victory.
Giancarlo Stanton did a chunk of the damage for the Marlins, homering twice
and driving in four runs. He is hitting .313 with seven homers and 15 RBI in
13 games since missing a month of action due to injury.
Miami matched a club record with 10 hits in the fourth frame, which saw three
Marlins players notch two hits in the same innings for the first time in
franchise history. Those hits came off the bats of Jose Reyes, who went 4-
for-5 in the game, Carlos Lee and Donovan Solano.
Justin Ruggiano and John Buck launched solo shots for the Marlins, who split a
four-game series with the Colorado Rockies over the weekend.
Mark Buehrle allowed two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks
over seven innings to win his second straight start.
"It was nice," Buehrle said of getting a lot of run support. "If you get a
lead like that, obviously you don't want to go out there and just pump
heaters, you still have got to pitch and get guys out."
Joe Saunders was lit up for nine runs on 12 hits in 3 2/3 innings to take the
loss for the Diamondbacks.
"Joe just didn't throw the ball very good, they got three dink hits off of
him," manager Kirk Gibson said. "He just felt tired, they got four more hits
and nine runs. It happened quickly."
Denied a fifth straight win, Arizona fell five games behind the first-place
San Francisco Giants in the NL West.
The D-Backs also made a move following the loss, trading shortstop Stephen
Drew to the Oakland Athletics for minor league infielder Sean Jamieson.
Drew missed nearly a year of action and 137 games total due to a fractured
right ankle and was hitting .193 in 40 games this season with a pair of homers
and 12 RBI.
Gibson said he will use a rotation of John McDonald, Willie Bloomquist and
Jake Elmore at shortstop for the rest of the season.
Tuesday, the Diamondbacks turn to a starter they acquired from the A's before
the start of the season in Trevor Cahill, who has gone 9-10 with a 3.75 earned
run average in 24 starts this season.
Acquired along with Craig Breslow on Dec. 9 for a package of players that
included prospect Jarrod Parker, Cahill was solid in a no-decision at the St.
Louis Cardinals on Thursday. The righty yielded a run over six innings,
working around five hits and a walk while fanning four.
Arizona won the game 2-1, getting a pair of solo homers in the ninth.
Cahill, 24, faced the Marlins for the first time in his career last June 30
with Oakland and was drilled for five runs -- four earned -- over 4 2/3
innings of a loss.
Ricky Nolasco gets the call for Miami and has lost six of his past seven
starts.
The right-hander was dealt a 5-3 defeat versus the hosting Colorado Rockies on
Thursday despite logging his longest start since his season debut on April 7.
Nolasco matched his 2012 high by hurling eight innings in a complete-game
loss, giving up five runs while striking out a season high-tying seven.
"You make good pitches all night and you make two mistakes, a couple mistakes,
and that's the game," said Nolasco, referring to a game-tying homer yielded in
the sixth and the go-ahead run that was scored on a triple in the following
frame.
Nolasco is 9-12 with a 4.94 ERA in 24 starts this season and will look to
reestablish success over the Diamondbacks. The 29-year-old won each of his
first four career starts against them while posting a 2.12 ERA, but is 1-2 in
three outings since with a 7.88 ERA.
The Diamondbacks have won six of their past eight versus the Marlins,
including three of four in Miami from April 27-30. This four-game set was
originally set to wrap on Thursday, but the clubs will instead play two on
Wednesday because of a scheduling issue.
The Sports Network