Kelly Johnson’s three-run double highlighted a six-run fourth inning that helped the Arizona Diamondbacks defeat Florida 9-5 on Saturday night, sending the slumping Marlins to their ninth loss in 10 games.

Ryan Roberts and Stephen Drew each hit a solo homer in support of Ian Kennedy (7-2), who gave up five runs and eight hits in eight innings.

Chris Coghlan, Gaby Sanchez and Mike Stanton homered for Florida.

Javier Vazquez (3-6) was chased in the fourth — an inning after striking out the side — when Arizona sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs.

Drew began the fourth by hitting his fourth homer to tie it at 2.

Singles by Miguel Montero and Xavier Nady put runners on first and third with one out. Vazquez retired Gerardo Parra on a liner to second but walked Kennedy on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases.

Arizona went ahead when Roberts walked to force in a run, then took a 6-2 lead when Johnson doubled over the head of Coghlan in center field. Justin Upton doubled to right-center to make it 7-2 and finish Vazquez.

The right-hander allowed seven runs, seven hits and three walks (one intentional). He struck out six.

The Diamondbacks added two runs in the fifth to build a 9-2 lead. Chris Young scored on Brian Sanches’ wild pitch, and Parra hit an RBI triple.

Back-to-back home runs by Sanchez (a two-run shot ) and Stanton pulled Florida within 9-5 in the fifth.

Logan Morrison’s run-scoring triple in the third gave Florida a 2-1 lead.

The game started after a 20-minute rain delay, the first this season in Miami. Home runs by both leadoff hitters — Roberts and Coghlan — made the score 1-all after one inning.

NOTES: Arizona had lost four of five. … The earned runs were the most given up by Kennedy since he allowed nine on April 13 against St. Louis. … Kennedy threw 113 pitches and has thrown at least 100 in 11 straight starts. … Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez (left back strain) went 3 for 5 with three singles for Class-A Jupiter in a rehab game. He could return when he’s eligible to come off the disabled list Tuesday. … The Marlins were without closer Leu Nunez (back tightness). He’s scheduled to throw in the bullpen Sunday and Monday in hopes of being ready Tuesday at Philadelphia. … Arizona RHP Esmerling Vasquez began serving a two-game suspension for throwing at Washington’s Danny Espinosa on June 5.

MIAMI – Diamondbacks right-hander Ian Kennedy knows the frustration inherent in walking the opposing pitcher, knows the tedious feeling associated with failing to record what is viewed as an automatic out.

---

Diamondbacks-Marlins series | Saturday’s box score | MLB scoreboard

---

And so, when he came to the plate with two on and two out in the fourth inning on Saturday, he wanted to make struggling Florida Marlins pitcher Javier Vazquez throw as many pitches as possible in hopes of making his way on base one way or another.

The walk Kennedy wound up coaxing might have been the at-bat of the game, keeping alive what became a six-run inning in the Diamondbacks’ breakout 9-5 victory against the Marlins at Sun Life Stadium.

Kennedy’s walk loaded the bases, and after Ryan Roberts followed with a walk of his own, Kelly Johnson lined a three-run double, the big blow in the Diamondbacks’ first big inning in weeks.

It had been 10 days since the Diamondbacks last scored six runs in a game, let alone an inning.

“It felt real good,” Johnson said of the big inning. “It felt awesome to have everyone come out and explode and keep the train rolling. It’s a game-changer and you love them when you can get them.”

Manager Kirk Gibson said the night before that, despite losing again, he felt his offense was ready to bust out, and that’s exactly what they did against Vazquez, the pitcher the Diamondbacks traded after the 2006 season for a package that included center fielder Chris Young.

Roberts began the game with a home run and Stephen Drew added one of his own to lead off the third. But it was Kennedy’s at-bat with men on the corners later that inning that might have been the most important.

After working the count to 3-1, Kennedy got three consecutive fastballs. He took the first for a strike, fouled off the second and watched the third sail up and in for ball four.

“I know as a pitcher, walking a pitcher is really frustrating,” Kennedy said. “Sometimes it takes them out of the game and sometimes it doesn’t. It helped us tonight.”

Roberts followed with a hard-earned walk of his own, a battle that ended with him watching a full-count slider tumble out of the strike zone.

“I’m maybe one for 300 in guessing right this year, but at that point I was thinking he might try to throw a slider,” Roberts said. “He did and it happened to be down and away.”

That brought up Johnson, who laced the first pitch he saw – also a slider – over the head of Marlins center fielder Chris Coghlan, clearing the bases. Johnson, who struck out in his other four at-bats, said he wasn’t looking for a slider.

“Did it look like I knew what I was doing today?” he joked in reference to his strikeouts. “I got lucky and I’ll take it.”

After Justin Upton doubled home Johnson, the Diamondbacks had their first inning of six or more runs since May 21.

Rewind

Putz or Hernandez?: While reliever Aaron Heilman was working the ninth inning, manager Kirk Gibson had right-hander David Hernandez, not closer J.J. Putz, warming up in case a save situation arose.

Why? He said he figured if he used Putz, who has been bothered by back stiffness, he might not be able to use him again Sunday.

“Did we want him (Saturday) in this type of game or (Sunday) when it might be a little tighter?” Gibson said. “We decided to go that way.”

Vasquez serves: Right-hander Esmerling Vasquez, who was suspended on Tuesday for three games after hitting Washington’s Danny Espinosa with a pitch last Sunday, had the suspension reduced to two games and began serving on Saturday.

Going deep: Right-hander Ian Kennedy was frustrated with the three-run fifth inning the Marlins hung on him, but he was glad he was given the chance to finish eight innings.

“I was a little tired at the end; the air’s thick,” he said. “I was really, really happy Gibby let me go into the eighth and happy to get that win.”

View from the press box

The story going around Saturday was that Diamondbacks advance scout Mark Weidemaier wrote in a report that Marlins slugger Mike Stanton has “Herman Munster power.” Weidemaier likes to spice up his reports, but Stanton told the Palm Beach Post he hadn’t heard of the character from the 1960s sitcom “The Munsters.” Well, Stanton showed off that power in the fourth inning, hammering an Ian Kennedy pitch well over 400 feet to straightaway center field for a home run.

Pitching matchup: Diamondbacks RHP Ian Kennedy (6-2, 3.01ERA) vs. Marlins RHP Javier Vazquez (3-5, 6.50).

Kennedy has managed to pitch well this season even in games in which he hasn’t had his best stuff or command, perhaps a sign of maturation for a pitcher in his second full season in a big-league rotation. … He wasn’t his best against the Marlins on May 31, but he at least kept his club in the game and got through five innings of what wound up being a 5-2 loss. … OF Logan Morrison and OF Mike Stanton each have homered off of Kennedy in their careers. … Vazquez spent a season with the Diamondbacks in 2005 but was traded to the White Sox in a deal that sent OF Chris Young to Arizona. He has had a rough year, with just three quality starts out of 12. … His average fastball velocity is down about 2½ mph from 2009, his most-recent strong season. … He gave up four runs in six innings against the Diamondbacks on June 1.

Post your comments on our message board below.

(Sports Network) – Puerto Rican veteran Javier Vazquez can turn an eight-game
losing streak into a two-game win streak tonight when the Florida Marlins
continue a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Sun Life
Stadium.

The Marlins entered Friday’s opener with eight consecutive losses, but flipped
the script when Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton each walloped two-run home
runs in a 6-4 win.

John Buck also homered and Emilio Bonifacio added two doubles for the victors.

Anibal Sanchez (6-1) tossed 6 2/3 innings to pick up his sixth win of the year
for Florida, giving up only three runs on five hits while fanning eight
Diamondbacks and walking none.

Xavier Nady and Miguel Montero smacked homers, while Stephen Drew chipped in
an RBI single for Arizona, which has lost six of its last 10.

Joe Saunders (3-6) pitched six innings in defeat, surrendering five runs on 10
hits while striking out three and walking one.

Steve Cishek tossed a scoreless ninth to pick up his first big-league save.

Vazquez last recorded a victory four starts ago on May 21, when he tossed
seven scoreless innings for a 3-0 interleague blanking of Tampa Bay.

The 34-year-old is 0-1 with a pair of no-decisions since, including a six-
inning stint against the Diamondbacks on June 1 in a game Arizona won, 6-5.

The Marlins are 5-7 in the 12 games he’s started.

Vazquez is 5-3 in 16 career starts against Arizona with a 4.05 earned run
average in 102 1/3 innings.

The Diamondbacks turn to righty Ian Kennedy, who looks for a return to the
winning side of the ledger for the first time since May 25.

The 26-year-old was 1-1 on the season after a 15-5 loss to St. Louis on April
13 before reeling off five straight victories between April 20 and May 25.

His run ended with a 5-2 loss to the Marlins in the desert on May 31, when he
was touched for five hits and three runs in five innings.

He allowed five hits and a run in seven innings of his most recent start, a
game Arizona lost, 9-4, on June 5 against Washington.

The Diamondbacks are 8-5 in the 13 games he’s started this season.

Arizona, which won 15 of 17 games from May 14-30, took two of three meetings
with the Marlins from May 30-June 1, but the teams have split their last six
overall meetings.

The Sports Network

MIAMI – In his major-league debut four years ago, Micah Owings touched 93 mph on the radar gun, his fastball sitting mostly in the 88-91 mph range. But during his 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief Thursday, Owings’ fastball didn’t exceed 88 mph, coming in at 86-87.

In that way, this version of Owings is different from the one who helped the Diamondbacks reach the National League Championship Series in 2007, but nothing in the way he attacks hitters would suggest he’s concerned about his diminished velocity.

“I know the ‘velo’ isn’t the same, but he’s still sneaky and kind of gets on the hitters a little bit,” catcher Miguel Montero said. “I think that helps him to be successful. Right now he’s throwing strikes, which is big, and he’s using all his pitches.”

Owings said he never has looked at velocity and that he’s not about to start. But he acknowledges he is cutting his fastball more than he did during his previous stint with the team. He’s evasive when pressed for details.

“That’s really not where my focus is,” he said. “It’s not on any certain pitch. I don’t get into too much detail about my stuff and my velocity, and I don’t try to overanalyze that.”

His aggressive nature on the mound supports his claim about not looking at velocity.

“You’ve got to go at guys and trust your defense behind you,” Owings said. “I feel like that’s always been kind of my approach. Trusting what you’re doing, trusting your stuff, being convinced 100 percent.”

Owings has posted a 2.08 ERA in 17 1/3 innings in two starts and five relief appearances.

Shaw promoted

Looking for better results out of their bullpen, the Diamondbacks reached to their farm system Friday and promoted right-hander Bryan Shaw from Triple-A Reno.

Shaw was taken in the second round in 2008 out of Long Beach State, but this has been the first season in which he has posted good results. He credits the success – he had a 2.37 ERA in 30 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A – to having been made into a full-time starting pitcher.

“The mind-set of closing and relieving is a lot different than the mind-set of a starter,” he said. “I think my mind-set is built more toward a reliever than a starter.”

Shaw was excited not just to get his first taste of the majors but because his wife and parents were both able to make the trip to South Florida in time for Friday’s game.

He tossed a scoreless eighth, pitching around a pair of walks and striking out one, freezing the Marlins’ Scott Cousins on a curveball.

Putz OK

Manager Kirk Gibson said closer J.J. Putz was available to pitch Friday night, one day after he was down with stiffness in his lower back.

Putz went through conditioning drills and threw off a mound before the game. He missed time in spring training with back trouble, but he said Thursday night this injury isn’t nearly as severe.

Short hop

The Diamondbacks announced they have signed 23 players from this week’s draft, with right-hander Evan Marshall (fourth round) and right-hander Jesse Darrah (eighth round) the highest selected among those players.

MIAMI – Logan Morrison and Mike Stanton each hit a two-run homer and the Florida Marlins snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory over Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

---

Diamondbacks-Marlins series | Friday’s box | MLB scoreboard

---

John Buck also homered and drove two runs for the Marlins, who had seven of their 13 hits go for extra bases. Emilio Bonifacio had two doubles.

Florida’s 13 hits were its highest total since it had a season-high 14 against the Dodgers on May 28.

Miguel Montero and Xavier Nady hit back-to-back home runs for the Diamondbacks, who have lost four of five.

Morrison connected against Joe Saunders in the first inning, hitting a drive to right on a 2-2 pitch for his eighth homer of the season.

Stanton’s 15th homer in the sixth inning made it 4-0 and Buck hit Saunders’ next pitch over the wall in right. It was the second time this season the Marlins have hit back-to-back homers.

Anibal Sanchez (6-1) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings for the Marlins. The right-hander is 5-0 with a 2.31 ERA in his last seven starts.

Arizona chased Sanchez during its four-run seventh inning. Stephen Drew singled in Justin Upton before Montero went deep. Mike Dunn then came in and allowed a homer to pinch-hitter Nady, cutting it to 5-4.

Buck added an RBI single in the bottom half to get the Marlins an insurance run, and Steve Cishek worked the ninth for his first career save.

Saunders (3-6) gave up five runs and 10 hits in six innings.