KANSAS CITY, Mo. — He had only been activated from the disabled list, but considering he had spent a full month there, Chris Young likened the transaction to something even bigger.

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Diamondbacks at Royals photos | Friday’s box score | Twitter updates

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“I feel like I just got called up (from the minors),” the Diamondbacks center fielder said.

Young returned to the lineup designated hitter Friday night and helped the Diamondbacks open interleague play with a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

His two-run double in the sixth inning off starter Luis Mendoza helped Arizona take a 4-3 lead, and the Diamondbacks hung on to win consecutive games for the first time since the end of April.

Justin Upton had two hits, an RBI and scored three runs — a first by a Diamondbacks player this year — and Miguel Montero added three RBIs, including a two-run double in the eighth that gave the Diamondbacks the lead for good. Willie Bloomquist added three singles.

The Diamondbacks haven’t been successful in interleague play, entering this three-game series with a record of 100-120 against American League clubs. But just as manager Kirk Gibson predicted, Young’s return seemed to buoy his teammates.

“It was great. You guys know he’s a big part of this team,” Gibson said. “He’s very active in what he does on and off the field. Hopefully we can keep him healthy.”

Young went 1 for 4, lining out hard up the middle and striking out before delivering his big hit, which helped Arizona recover from a 3-2 deficit. Young, who had been sidelined because of a right-shoulder injury, also flied out to right in the eighth.

“I’m just excited to be back with my teammates and be ready to play again,” he said, adding of watching his team struggle, “It’s been tough. I’ve been watching all the games on TV, and when we were at home, I was in the clubhouse with them the entire time.

“I understand what everybody has been going through. We went through the same thing in seasons past and we’ve proven to each other we can pick each other up.”

Gibson hinted he might consider starting Young in center field Sunday, even though Young’s arm strength might not be 100 percent.

“I didn’t have a canon of an arm before, but it’s coming along,” he said. “I’m going to continue working on it, and hopefully when the time comes that I have to make a throw, it’ll be there.”

Winning pitcher Joe Saunders said he could feel the difference with Young back in the lineup.

“It’s a way different lineup with him in it,” he said. “It gives us more balance, it gives us more power, it gives us more opportunities to do things and definitely, we’re better with him for sure.”

Young said he enjoyed his handful of rehab-appearance games at ClassA Visalia and his one-game stop at Triple-A Reno. He mentored some of the organization’s younger players, sharing stories and experiences while regaining confidence in his swing.

When he got hurt, he was hitting .410 with a team-high five homers and 13 RBIs. That kind of production is something the Diamondbacks have been missing, as they lost 18 of 28 games without him.

“The only time you get your big-league timing down is by playing in the games up here,” Young said. “I’ve just got to trust that everything is going to come back around.”

The Diamondbacks’ gain was a big loss for Visalia and Reno, though. Not only did Young provide some nice leadership there, but he also made sure the minor-league clubs were fed well at his expense.

He treated the Visalia players to regular spreads from Olive Garden and Subway and on the night he left Reno, he made sure everyone got steaks from Outback Steakhouse.

“That’s normal anytime a major-league guy goes down to the minor leagues,” Young said. “If they’re not eating good, you’re probably going to be talked bad about.”

Diamondbacks rewind

Saunders responds: In his first five starts, left-hander Joe Saunders pitched about as well as he has in the majors. He allowed a total of just five earned runs in 36 1/3 innings.

But in his previous two starts before Friday, he got rocked hard both times, allowing six earned runs in each outing.

This time, he kept the damage to a minimum, allowing three runs and eight hits in six innings to keep the Diamondbacks in the game long enough for the offense to help bail him out.

“The first three innings were pretty dicey. I don’t know how many pitches I threw, but it felt like 100,” said Saunders, who is 5-0 with a sub-3.00 ERA against the Royals in his career. “I just told myself to keep making good pitches, start working ahead of guys and letting your defense play for you. … I just had to settle down and eat up some outs.”

No surprise: As expected, Royals manager Ned Yost sat slumping first baseman Eric Hosmer for a second consecutive game. The Royals faced another starting left-hander in Saunders and Hosmer, who is batting just .174, is just 5 for 40 (.125) against lefties.

Hill hits ninth: With the luxury of using Chris Young at designated hitter and batting him fifth, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson had some flexibility in his lineup Friday. He used that to slide Paul Goldschmidt down to seventh in the order and Aaron Hill to ninth.

“I talked to him today about that,” Gibson said of Hill. “I’ve moved him around a lot, mostly due to his versatility.”

View from the press box

Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero was just 3 for 32 against left-handers when he faced Royals lefty Tim Collins with the score tied, two on and nobody out in the eighth inning. He smartly laid off a couple breaking balls and then got a fastball away that he stayed on and drove easily into center for a two-run double and a Diamondbacks lead. Oh yeah, and he didn’t over swing — something he’s been doing far too much off this season.

Carlos Beltran’s sharp grounder bounced twice, hit off the heel of Diamondbacks third baseman Ryan Roberts’ glove and then smoked Roberts in the jugular. The moment sort of summed up the past three days for the Diamondbacks.

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D-Backs-Cardinals series | Box score | Twitter updates

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The best news to come out of Wednesday night’s 7-2 loss, which completed a three-game sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals? The Cardinals aren’t scheduled to return to Chase Field this season.

The Cardinals roster is populated with red-hot hitters, and it seems that no matter whom they have in their lineup on a particular day, any of them is capable of stinging a ball to any part of the ballpark.

Another microcosm of the series: In the ninth inning, closer J.J. Putz got an off-balance swing from Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday, and Holliday drilled it high up the wall in center field. The Cardinals offense could not be stopped.

But the Diamondbacks’ problems appear more deep-rooted than just the identity of their opponent. The loss was their seventh in their past nine games. After a 7-3 start to open season, the Diamondbacks have gone 7-15.

They didn’t play particularly well in this one.

They appeared to get a break on a call at the plate that cost the Cardinals a run in the third, but an inning later the Diamondbacks were thrown out trying to score, a play in which Lyle Overbay was tagged out standing up.

Roberts’ painful error (he stayed in the game) cost them a run, and the game’s key hit, Matt Carpenter’s two-run double in the sixth, wasn’t played well by left fielder Jason Kubel.

Left-hander Wade Miley pitched into and out of trouble for most of the night, but he couldn’t escape the sixth inning.

He got out of the third when a relay throw by shortstop Willie Bloomquist (via center fielder Gerardo Parra) nailed Rafael Furcal at the plate. Replays showed Furcal to be safe, but Miley and the Diamondbacks would take it.

Two innings later, Miley got an inning-ending double play from Allen Craig to escape a bases-loaded jam.

But Miley couldn’t get the third out in the sixth. He walked David Freese to open the inning and quickly retired the next two batters. But Cruz shot a single to right, putting runners on the corners for the Cardinals.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny went to his bench, sending up Matt Carpenter to hit for starting pitcher Kyle Lohse, who an inning earlier appeared to tweak a hamstring while running the bases.

Carpenter is a left-handed hitter. In his career, he had just three hits in 18 at-bats against left-handed pitching. Miley entered the game holding lefties to a .207 average this season.

But Carpenter got a fastball he could handle and blistered it into left field. Kubel raced to his left and leaped, but he wasn’t close, and the ball rolled to the wall, allowing both runners to score.

Putz couldn’t finish the ninth. He got the first two outs quickly, but after an infield single by Rafael Furcal, he gave up four consecutive hard-hit balls, including a two-run homer from Allen Craig to put the game out of reach.

Specimen handlers for Major League Baseball’s drug prevention and treatment program were in the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse Tuesday for another round of surprise collections, and one veteran played couldn’t help but take a playful jab at journeyman infielder Cody Ransom.

“You’re the reason they’re here, Cody,” the player said, noting Ransom had tied his career high the previous night by smacking his fourth home run of the season.

Ransom, a Valley native who attended Chandler High School, South Mountain Community College and Grand Canyon University, is about the last person anyone would suspect of doing any kind of cheating. But after playing for eight different and doing an awful lot of waiting, he’s finally getting a rare opportunity to play this season, his 15th year of professional baseball.

Ransom made his third consecutive start Tuesday, and was hitting .351 with three doubles and a career-high 12 RBIs in 37 at-bats. He’s on pace to reach 200 at-bats in the majors. His career high is 79.

“It tells you a little bit about him,” Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. “He’s got a pretty good makeup. He likes the game, and he doesn’t let the frustration get to him. He’s stuck with it.”

In 2009 with the Yankees he was named the Opening Day third baseman but played through an injury in spring training that later derailed him.

“I ended up tearing my quad (muscle) pretty much off the bone,” said Ransom, who signed a minor-league deal with the Diamondbacks before last season and spent most of 2011 with Triple-A Reno. “I went on the 60-day (disabled list) and while rehabbing that, I tore two ligaments in my thumb. I broke my foot that year, too. So that was that. It was just one of those years.”

Now he’s splitting time at third with Ryan Roberts and he’s off to his most productive start in any of his previous stints in the majors. He’s also playing in his hometown, which couldn’t make him happier.

“I love it. I’m not going to be shy about that at all. I’m so happy to be home,” Ransom said. “My wife and kids love it, too. It’s real special going home at night and seeing them, then waking up in the morning and taking my daughter to school and being able to hang out with my son.

“It makes it hard to even think about playing anywhere else. I definitely don’t want to. It’s good to be home.”

Hudson “good”

Right-hander Daniel Hudson threw off a mound for the first time in his recovery from a shoulder impingement and reported no pain after 30 pitches, mostly all fastballs.

“Everything feels pretty good,” he said. “It’s one more step closer, you know? If it was up to me, I’d be back out there (today).”

If his arm is up to it, Hudson will throw again from a mound Friday and then throw to live hitters early next week.

Injury updates

Shortstop Stephen Drew played five innings in an extended-spring-training game against the Rockies and went 2 for 5 with a single and a triple. If his right ankle responds favorably, he will play again Thursday and Saturday.

Center fielder Chris Young (right shoulder) did some hitting and catching Tuesday and could play in an intrasquad extended-spring-training game Thursday at Salt River Fields, Gibson said.

Corner infielder Geoff Blum, who suffered a left oblique strain April 17, is able to do some running and light workouts but isn’t ready for baseball activity.

PHOENIX — Tommy Hanson pitched seven strong innings, Dan Uggla homered and the streaking Atlanta Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Saturday night.

Hanson allowed two runs on five hits for the Braves, who have won 10 of 11. Hanson (2-2) struck out seven, walked one and retired the last 13 batters he faced.

Uggla broke a 2-all tie with a one-out towering drive to left, his 12th career homer against the Diamondbacks.

Johnny Venters struck out the side in the eighth and Craig Kimbrel did the same in the ninth for his fifth save.

Arizona starter Joe Saunders (1-1) settled down after Uggla’s home run, retiring 13 of his final 14 batters, but couldn’t prevent the Diamondbacks’ fifth straight loss.

Saunders gave up three runs — two earned — on six hits and a walk over seven innings and struck out five and saw his ERA creep up to 1.29.

Struggles at the plate have been a problem for the Diamondbacks, who have scored two runs or less in four straight games.

Saunders walked Chipper Jones with the bases loaded in the first to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Arizona tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Gerardo Parra singled, went to third on a double by Upton and scored on an RBI groundout by Miguel Montero.

Jack Wilson singled and scored on Martin Prado’s two-out single in the second to make it 2-1. But Kubel tied the game for the second time with his home run, his first since August 31 for the Minnesota Twins against the Chicago White Sox.

NOTES: Atlanta entered the game with 74 runs scored in its previous 10 games and had lost 3-of-4 games this season when scoring three or fewer runs. . Saunders has allowed four runs — three earned — in 21 innings. . Kubel’s home run ended a streak of 101 at bats without a homer for the Diamondbacks. . Atlanta RF Jason Heyward’s 10-game hitting streak was snapped. He went 0 for 4 and was called out on strikes in his first and last at bats. . Upton is 4 for 9 in his career against Hanson. . Diamondbacks RHP Ian Kennedy will attempt to win his third game without a loss and also end Arizona’s losing streak on Sunday afternoon when he faced Atlanta RHP Randall Delgado. Delgado has won both his starts despite pitching only 1-3 of an inning above the minimum five in each.

Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Bourn cf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .306

Prado lf 4 0 2 1 0 0 .273

Freeman 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .276

McCann c 3 0 0 0 1 0 .286

Uggla 2b 4 1 1 1 0 1 .241

C.Jones 3b 3 0 0 1 1 1 .286

Heyward rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .315

J.Wilson ss 4 1 1 0 0 1 .125

Hanson p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .143

Venters p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Kimbrel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Totals 32 3 6 3 2 8

Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Bloomquist ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .224

G.Parra cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .216

J.Upton rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .216

M.Montero c 3 0 0 1 1 1 .239

Goldschmidt 1b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .244

Kubel lf 4 1 1 1 0 2 .250

A.Hill 2b 3 0 1 0 0 2 .235

R.Roberts 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .173

J.Saunders p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000

a-Pollock ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Shaw p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

D.Hernandez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Totals 31 2 5 2 1 13

Atlanta 111 000 000–3 6 0

Arizona 110 000 000–2 5 1

a-grounded out for J.Saunders in the 7th.

E–A.Hill (3). LOB–Atlanta 5, Arizona 4. 2B–J.Upton (3). HR–Uggla (2), off J.Saunders; Kubel (1), off Hanson. RBIs–Prado (8), Uggla (8), C.Jones (8), M.Montero (8), Kubel (5). CS–Bourn (3). S–Hanson, J.Saunders.

Runners left in scoring position–Atlanta 2 (Heyward 2); Arizona 3 (Goldschmidt, Bloomquist, Kubel). RISP–Atlanta 1 for 6; Arizona 0 for 4.

Runners moved up–Bourn, M.Montero.

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Hanson W, 2-2 7 5 2 2 1 7 104 3.38

Venters H, 4 1 0 0 0 0 3 12 0.00

Kimbrel S, 5-5 1 0 0 0 0 3 14 1.50

Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

J.Saunders L, 1-1 7 6 3 2 1 5 92 1.29

Shaw 1 0 0 0 1 0 15 1.13

D.Hernandez 1 0 0 0 0 3 13 3.68

Umpires–Home, Joe West; First, Sam Holbrook; Second, Andy Fletcher; Third, Rob Drake.

T–2:17. A–30,188 (48,633).

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired third baseman Josh Bell from the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, sending cash to Baltimore in exchange for the young player. Bell is in his third year in the league, having originally been drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2005 amateur draft.

He was traded to the Orioles in 2009 and made his debut in the majors the following year, playing 53 games in total and batting only .214. The following year saw a decline in all of his numbers, as he played only 26 games and batted .164, as well as seeing his RBI production decline from 12 to six. He has struggled with adapting to the MLB strike zone, as demonstrated by his career OBP of .221. With Diamondbacks infielder Geoff Blum going on the DL with a left oblique strain, Arizona was likely looking for a little more depth at third base.

All your Diamondbacks news and info can be found at AZ Snakepit, and if that’s still not enough head over to SB Nation’s MLB hub. And don’t miss SB Nation on YouTube:

DENVER – Told that his manager plans to give him his first day off Sunday, Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero shrugged.

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Profile: Miguel Montero

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“Well,” he said, “161 then.”

That’s probably a stretch, but Montero proved to be one of the more durable catchers in baseball last season, tying with St. Louis’ Yadier Molina for the most starts in the majors (131) at the position last season.

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said about 130 starts seem like a realistic target for Montero again this year but added that number could change in either direction based on factors such as length of games and weather.

“I’m ready to play every day,” Montero said. “I take a lot of pride in that. I just love to play.”

Montero is a high-energy personality. If his teammates are worn out from a long road trip, Montero might still be bouncing around the clubhouse.

“I feel like (the energy) helps me play a lot,” he said. “And the days I feel a little down, I try to motivate myself because you don’t always have energy every day.

“I feel like it gets easier (to play every day) later in the season. The first month is the toughest. But as the season goes on, you get into a rhythm and get into even better shape.”

Backup catcher Henry Blanco will get the start, Gibson said. Blanco doesn’t have an at-bat this season.

Smart play

Gibson liked the bunt that right fielder Justin Upton dropped down the third-base line in the third inning Friday, particularly because it snapped an 11 at-bat hitless skid.

“You always feel better when you get a hit, no matter how you get a hit,” Gibson said. “You can hit four bullets and not get a hit and you wonder what happened. The reality is, everything’s fine. You get jammed or you put a bunt down — he had good at-bats after that.”

Upton, who had just two bunt singles last season and has 12 in his career, doubled and hit two balls sharply after the bunt single.

“He’s starting to swing the bat better,” Gibson said. “He hasn’t driven the ball. He doesn’t have a home run in spring or (in the regular season). It’s a smarter play right now.

“I’d like to see him just get locked in. Not to put pressure on him, but when he does, it takes a lot of pressure off our offense. Everything seems to fall into place. He has such a huge impact on the way he drives the ball and pressures the defense.”

Impressive stuff

Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is older than Diamondbacks reliever Bryan Shaw, but both are both products of Long Beach State, and Tulowitzki remembers going back in the off-seasons and seeing Shaw pitch.

They faced each other Friday night for the second time in their careers, and Tulowitzki noticed a difference from the pitcher he saw before.

“He’s gotten a lot better,” Tulowitzki said. “Anytime you’re throwing a 95 mph cutter you’re going to have success. He’s going to be good for a long time.”