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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“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.

While they’ve been struggling, the Arizona Diamondbacks have to feel good about a visit to Kauffman Stadium.

The Diamondbacks will go for their sixth straight victory in Kansas City on Friday night when they open a three-game series against a Royals team that has struggled to pick up wins at home.

It’s been more than two weeks since Arizona last won back-to-back games, and the Diamondbacks (17-22) will try to change that following a 9-7 victory over Colorado on Thursday.

Justin Upton hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning, helping the Diamondbacks post their fourth victory in 15 games. He came into Thursday batting .173 over the previous 13 contests but walked three times before his homer.

“That was nice,” Upton said. “Just being able to put all my struggles aside and come up big for the team. That’s always a goal, but it’s not always that easy. When you can get it done, it definitely feels good.”

Arizona swept a three-game series in Kansas City last year to improve to 9-3 at Kauffman Stadium. Upton is 9 for 21 with five doubles in his last five games there.

With Joe Saunders (2-3, 3.43 ERA) taking the mound in the opener, the Diamondbacks appear to have a good chance of continuing their success at Kauffman Stadium.

The left-hander improved to 4-0 with a 2.57 ERA against the Royals after allowing two runs in seven innings of a 7-2 win June 21.

However, after a strong beginning to the season, Saunders has struggled in back-to-back outings.

He gave up six earned runs for a second straight start Sunday, allowing a season-high 10 hits over five innings of a 7-3 loss to San Francisco.

The Royals (15-22) are looking to get back on track after losing a pair to Baltimore this week. They had won six of seven before hosting the Orioles, who won 5-3 on Thursday.

Kansas City, which fell to 4-15 at home, had a lead in both losses. The Royals gave up two runs in the ninth of a 4-3 defeat in 15 innings Wednesday before failing to protect a 3-2 lead Thursday, allowing three runs in the seventh.

“It’s real tough because you want to defend home so bad,” center fielder Jarrod Dyson told the Royals’ official website. “It’s kind of frustrating when you know you had the game won.”

Kansas City will hand the ball to Luis Mendoza (2-2, 4.76), who is taking Danny Duffy’s spot in the rotation after Duffy was placed on the disabled list with a torn ulnar ligament in his left elbow.

Mendoza, who has never faced the Diamondbacks, pitched 5 2-3 innings in relief of Duffy against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. He gave up one run and seven hits while striking out four to earn the win.

The right-hander made four starts in April, going 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA.

Royals manager Ned Yost said slumping first baseman Eric Hosmer will likely be held out of the starting lineup for a second straight game Friday. Hosmer is batting .174 this season, going 5 for 40 against left-handers.

The Diamondbacks reinstated outfielder Chris Young from the disabled list hours before this game. Young, who had been on the DL since hurting his right shoulder April 17, was hitting .410 with five homers and 13 RBIs in his first 11 games before getting hurt.

Chris Young activated, A.J. Pollock sent down to Triple A Reno

Up next: Kansas City Royals: Not much has gone right for the Royals so far this season. It started in spring training when they lost C Salvador Perez to a knee injury and RHP Joakim Soria to an elbow injury. More recently, they lost LHP Danny Duffy, also to an elbow injury. 1B Eric Hosmer, who is expected to be a key part of the Royals lineup for years, is struggling, hitting just .174 with five home runs. LF Alex Gordon has a .250 average. RF Jeff Francoeur isn’t doing much, either, hitting .248 with one homer. 3B Mike Moustakas has been a bright spot, with a .303 average, 11 doubles and five homers. Their pitching staff ranks 12th in the league with a 4.37 ERA. The starters have a 5.21 ERA (12th) and relievers a 3.30 ERA (5th).

Tonight’s pitching matchup: Joe Saunders posted a 1.24 ERA (five earned runs in 36 1/3 innings) in his first five starts, but he has been hit around in his previous two, giving up 13 runs (12 earned) in 81/3 innings against the Cardinals and the Giants, both games that the Diamondbacks lost. … Saunders has good numbers against left-handed hitters this season, holding them to a .256 average and just two extra-base hits in 40 plate appearances. … Saunders hasn’t lost to the Royals in six career starts, going 4-0 with a 2.57 ERA. He faced them once last season, giving up two runs in seven innings. … Luis Mendoza gets the start for Kansas City in place of LHP Danny Duffy, who likely is headed for Tommy John elbow surgery. … Mendoza has thrown 28 1/3 innings, walking 18 and striking out 13 while allowing 38 hits. Considering he’s allowing nearly two base runners per inning, he’s fortunate to have an ERA under 5.00. … Mendoza throws a fastball that averages about 92 mph along with a curveball and a change-up. … He has never faced the Diamondbacks.

Follow the game and join the game chat below.

Each week, we visit with a Diamondbacks player to talk baseball and off-the-field subjects.

Question: You went 88 at-bats between homers after hitting one in your first at-bat on Opening Day. How did you not get too down on yourself?

Answer: Because this is baseball, it happens all the time. You don’t really have another choice. You have to stay confident.

Q: Your hitting coach, Don Baylor, had you working on an interesting drill. Can you talk about that?

A: Yeah, it’s a drill where you’re on one knee and swinging off the tee. It makes you go straight to the ball. You’ve just got to drive straight through it.

Q: And tell us what does that helps you do?

A: Instead of having your bat loop underneath and make your swing longer, it’s going to shorten you up and get you on top of the ball. It’s more to help your bat path and get direct to the ball.

Q: Was this your first time using that sort of drill?

A: It’s the first time I’ve ever done it on one knee. You’re always conscious about not trying to get a loop in your swing. Obviously, whenever you have a little bit of success it feels good, so I don’t know, we’ll see.

Q: What mental positives do you take from it?

A: The thing I liked about it was when you take a bad swing, you’re really able to feel it. You feel the good ones, too, but when you take a bad one, you really feel the difference. It’s always tough when you can’t tell the difference between a good and a bad swing. But with this, you can say, “Oh, wow. That felt different. That was bad.” Or if it was good, then you can try to repeat that.

Q: Well, Albert Pujols went longer between home runs than you did. Was that any comfort?

A: (Laughs) Nah, you know as a player it’s going to come. It’s just part of the game. It’s just that if you struggle in the first month of the year it’s a lot bigger story.

Q: Were you self-conscious about the drought, though?

A: No. You understand how it is. You can’t try to hit home runs. Well, I can’t. Maybe some guys can. I knew eventually it would come.

DENVER – Sometime Thursday Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers is scheduled to arrive at Coors Field, where he will sit down with manager Kirk Gibson. The two enjoy each other’s company and are quick to share a laugh, but when the subject turns to their struggling baseball team, there will be little for them to find humorous.

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At the beginning of the week, Gibson cryptically mentioned “adjustments” to the roster, about changes that might need to happen to jumpstart his middling team. Towers isn’t exactly known for his patience, and so it will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens in aftermath of another dispiriting loss.

“We’re going to sit down and talk about some things,” Gibson said before the Diamondbacks’ 6-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Rookie left-hander Pat Corbin was roughed up, but once again, the offense was muzzled, but this time it was a 49-year-old left-hander with a fastball in the upper-70s who held them in check. And not only did Jamie Moyer give up just one run in 61/3 innings, not only did he strike out five, he also hustled to first base to beat out an infield hit in one of night’s more-important moments.

Yes, Moyer still is pitching. Yes, his fastball topped at 80 mph. And, yes, his one-arm swing wound up producing a dribbler that drove home two runs.

If this sounds repetitive, that’s because it is: The Diamondbacks found ways to get guys on base but couldn’t find ways to get them home. They had a one day reprieve from scoring position troubles, but opened up this quick two-game series with the Rockies by going 1 for 10 in those situations.

“We had some opportunities and we didn’t make very good use of those,” Gibson said.

For a team eager to break out of a slump, there might be no worse pitcher to face than Moyer, who feeds on hitters’ aggressiveness. That’s what seemed to be happening on Wednesday as Moyer recorded 10 ground-ball outs.

“He had us out on our front foot,” Gibson said, “and we hit a lot of ground balls off him and five strikeouts as well.”

Said first baseman Paul Goldschmidt: “He was just mixing it up and keeping the ball down. Even when he misses or gets behind in the count, it’s usually balls that are away, below your knees or in the dirt.”

The offense doesn’t deserve all the blame, not on a night when Corbin was charged with six runs in six innings.

But he had a peculiar night. There were a handful of softly hit balls that found holes, but there were also several rockets off the bat of Rockies’ hitters, including a two-run triple by Dexter Fowler that keyed Colorado’s three-run second inning.

“I thought I made some pretty good pitches and they kind of found some spots,” he said. “That’s kind of how baseball goes.”

It hasn’t been going good for the Diamondbacks, who have lost 11 of their past 14 games.

“We always discuss things,” Gibson said after the game when asked if his team might need a shakeup to get going. “If we felt that that would be the case, I think we would do that, but I’m not sure we have resolution on what we might do at this point.”

View from the press box

When asked if they might consider shaking things up with their roster, Kirk Gibson seemed to say that there were no easy answers, either because there were no players who are obvious candidates to be sent down or because there were none banging on the door to be called up. Ryan Roberts has struggled, but he’s been a little more productive lately. Paul Goldschmidt hasn’t done much, but he did hit a couple balls hard. It’ll be interesting to see how patient the Diamondbacks can be if they continue to struggle to score runs.

Rewind

Confusion at first: With runners on second and third in the fourth, Rockies pitcher Jamie Moyer took an off-balance, one-armed swing, rolling a grounder to the right side.

The ball wound up in no-man’s land — right between pitcher Pat Corbin and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt — and by the time Goldschmidt picked it up and reached to tag Moyer, the play was close enough for the Rockies to get the benefit of the doubt.

Replays appeared to show Goldschmidt’s glove barely grazing Moyer’s side.

“I thought I got a piece of him,” Goldschmidt said. “It wasn’t one of those plays where I crushed his leg or anything like that, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Missed chances: The Diamondbacks had two on and one out in the second but failed to score. They had the same situation in the third, but Jason Kubel bounced into a double play. Goldschmidt doubled to start the fourth but was stranded.

By the end of that inning, the Diamondbacks were down 4-0.

“You’ve got to put stuff together,” Gibson said. “That’s what we were unable to do.”

Staying put: If there’s a bright spot, it could be that the Diamondbacks didn’t lose ground in the NL West. They remain 8 1/2 games back of the Dodgers, who lost earlier in the day to the Padres.

Pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter lined a go-ahead double in the sixth inning, Allen Craig homered to cap a four-run burst in the ninth and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2 Thursday night for a three-game sweep.

David Freese had three hits as St. Louis won its fourth in a row.

Kyle Lohse (5-1) allowed one run and seven hits in five innings.

The Diamondbacks started the ninth with three straight singles to load the bases against Mitchell Boggs. Jason Motte came on to retire the side on a strikeout and a double play for his sixth save.

Arizona has lost five straight at home and seven of eight overall.

Wade Miley (3-1) pitched 52/3 innings, allowing three runs on 10 hits with two walks. He lost for the first time since Sept. 16 at San Diego, a span of five starts and eight appearances.

Carpenter’s appearance came up with the score 1-all after Tony Cruz’s two-out single. As he was announced as the pinch hitter, Arizona’s bullpen phone rang and pitching coach Charles Nagy sprinted to the mound.

Carpenter doubled home Freese, who had drawn a leadoff walk, and Cruz. Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson quickly pulled the left-handed Miley in favor of right-hander Bryan Shaw, who retired Rafael Furcal to end the inning.

Arizona got within a run in the sixth when Miguel Montero singled and scored on a double by Aaron Hill.

The Cardinals extended their lead with a two-out surge in the ninth against J.J. Putz. Furcal and Carlos Beltran singled, Matt Holliday hit an RBI double off the center-field wall and Craig then hit his third home run.

Putz, making his first appearance in five days, allowed four runs on five hits whole getting two outs.

Three consecutive singles, the last on a looping hit to center by Miley, gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead in the second.

The Cardinals tied the game in the fifth when Lohse singled, went to third on a single by Furcal and scored when Beltran’s hard grounder to third deflected of Ryan Roberts’ glove and bounced off his chin for an error. Beltran was credited with an RBI.

SHORT HOPS: Lohse has thrown exactly five innings in each of his past two starts. … The Diamondbacks had been outscored 20-1 in the first four innings of their past four innings before Miley kept the Cardinals scoreless over the first four. … Miley’s single extended his hitting streak to five games, the longest by an Arizona pitcher since Barry Enright’s five-game streak in 2010. … Both teams have off-days on Thursday. LHP Jamie Garcia will go for his 30th career win against Mike Minor and the Braves in St. Louis on Friday. Rookie LHP Patrick Corbin will open a three-game series against San Francisco at home for Arizona, also on Friday.

PHOENIX (AP) Pinch hitter Matt Carpenter lined a go-ahead double in the sixth inning, Allen Craig homered to cap a four-run burst in the ninth and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2 Thursday night for a three-game sweep.

David Freese had three hits as St. Louis won its fourth in a row.

Kyle Lohse (5-1) allowed one run and seven hits in five innings.

The Diamondbacks started the ninth with three straight singles to load the bases against Mitchell Boggs. Jason Motte came on to retire the side on a strikeout and a double play for his sixth save.

Arizona has lost five straight at home and seven of eight overall.

Wade Miley (3-1) pitched 5 2-3 innings, allowing three runs on 10 hits with two walks. He lost for the first time since Sept. 16 at San Diego, a span of five starts and eight appearances.

Carpenter’s appearance came up with the score 1-all after Tony Cruz’s two-out single. As he was announced as the pinch hitter, Arizona’s bullpen phone rang and pitching coach Charles Nagy sprinted to the mound.

Carpenter doubled home Freese, who had drawn a leadoff walk, and Cruz. Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson quickly pulled the left-handed Miley in favor of right-hander Bryan Shaw, who retired Rafael Furcal to end the inning.

Arizona got within a run in the sixth when Miguel Montero singled and scored on a double by Aaron Hill.

The Cardinals extended their lead with a two-out surge in the ninth against J.J. Putz. Furcal and Carlos Beltran singled, Matt Holliday hit an RBI double off the center-field wall and Craig then hit his third home run.

Putz, making his first appearance in five days, allowed four runs on five hits whole getting two outs.

Three consecutive singles, the last on a looping hit to center by Miley, gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead in the second.

The Cardinals tied the game in the fifth when Lohse singled, went to third on a single by Furcal and scored when Beltran’s hard grounder to third deflected of Ryan Roberts’ glove and bounced off his chin for an error. Beltran was credited with an RBI.

NOTES: Lohse has thrown exactly five innings in each of his past two starts. … The Diamondbacks had been outscored 20-1 in the first four innings of their past four innings before Miley kept the Cardinals scoreless over the first four. … Miley’s single extended his hitting streak to five games, the longest by an Arizona pitcher since Barry Enright’s five-game streak in 2010. … Both teams have off-days on Thursday. LHP Jamie Garcia will go for his 30th career win against Mike Minor and the Braves in St. Louis on Friday. Rookie LHP Patrick Corbin will open a three-game series against San Francisco at home for Arizona, also on Friday.

By the time Ian Kennedy discovered his rhythm Tuesday night, the St. Louis Cardinals already had found themselves enjoying a comfortable six-run lead against the right-hander and the Diamondbacks.

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And they got that courtesy of two home runs from right fielder Carlos Beltran, who belted a two-run shot in the first inning and then unloaded on Kennedy for a grand slam in the second.

It was more than enough for the defending World Series champions to walk out of Chase Field with their second consecutive victory over the Diamondbacks, 6-1 in front of 30,156.

It was the fourth consecutive defeat for the Diamondbacks, who have dropped six of their past seven. Kennedy managed to retire 13 consecutive batters at one point, but Beltran’s carnage put an end to his long-running success at Chase.

Until taking the loss and seeing his record fall to 3-2 this season, Kennedy was 10-0 in his previous 11 starts at home.

“He just didn’t have good rhythm in the beginning and wasn’t able to hit his spots,” Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. “That (St. Louis) team is very good. They don’t leave you a lot of room, and obviously Beltran had him covered up pretty good.

“There’s areas you have to pitch to. He wasn’t able to get it there.”

If there was a positive, it was that Kennedy worked through his mistakes over the plate and settled into a groove, thus allowing Gibson the luxury of not having to tap into his bullpen early again, as was the case Monday when Joe Saunders couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.

Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook (4-2), meanwhile, pitched seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

The Diamondbacks didn’t score until the ninth inning when Miguel Montero drove in Justin Upton with a double to center field.

“We’ve got injuries, which doesn’t really help. Some guys have got to pick them up,” said Kennedy, who allowed six runs and six hits in seven innings with two walks and six strikeouts. “But guys are going to get healthy, guys are going to start hitting better. We’ve got to pick each other up. That’s what a team does.”

Kennedy was at a loss to explain his being off target to start the game. He was asked if it had anything to do with how he felt after warming up in the bullpen.

“I’ve always said it doesn’t make a difference what I feel like when I’m warming up or how my work was all week,” he said. “… Sometimes you feel great and sometimes you don’t. Today I was medium. I didn’t feel great, I didn’t feel bad.

“But yeah, this really sucks.”

Gibson refuses to stop being optimistic. He said he’s convinced that last year’s National League West champions can turn things around quickly.

“Sure I do. What’s the other choice?” he said. “The other choice would never even be in my vocabulary. We came out of spring training, and how did everybody feel? What’s changed?

“We’re in a tough stretch, we’ve lost four in a row. So everything changes? We went through this last year. There’s no excuses. It’s just the way it is and we will come out of it together.”

Rewind

Beltran’s blasts: It wasn’t quite like Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton’s 5-for-5, four-homer performance Tuesday against the Orioles, but the Cardinals’ Carlos Beltran started just as strong. Beltran launched two long home runs in his first two at-bats against Ian Kennedy, including a grand slam.

After that, however, Kennedy struck out Beltran twice. It was the ninth and 10th homers of the season for Beltran. It was also his 32nd career multi-homer game and his 10th career grand slam.

Upton still struggling: Right fielder Justin Upton continues to scuffle at the plate. It’s unclear as to what degree an earlier thumb injury is still affecting him, but he went 1 for 4 on Tuesday — reaching on a single in the ninth — and is 4 for 25 in his past six games.

The two-time All Star is batting .235 overall with three homers and nine RBIs.

“He’s working hard. He knows what he’s doing. The key is to not get frustrated with it,” manager Kirk Gibson said before the game. “Just try and keep your composure and power through it.”

Molina leaves: Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina left the game in the bottom of the ninth because of a left-wrist injury suffered while trying to catch a pitch from reliever Mitchell Boggs.

Molina had X-rays after the game, but the results weren’t immediately available.

Ransom’s strikeouts: As good as journeyman Cody Ransom has been in limited spurts this season, he acknowledged before this game that he has to do a much better job of cutting down his strikeouts.

That might have to be a work in progress, as Ransom struck out in each of his four plate appearances for the dreaded “Golden Sombrero.” That gives him 16 strikeouts in 41 at-bats.

View from the press box

The Diamondbacks have lost four games in a row, but it’s too early to panic. Don’t forget, they were exactly in this position a year ago, standing 14-17 after 31 games. They went on to win 94 and capture the National League West in comfortable fashion. So relax, enjoy the Coyotes’ success in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and wait for things to turn downtown. It’s only May, people.

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.

After throwing, running and taking about 50 swings in batting practice Monday for the first time since suffering a slight tear in a right-shoulder ligament, Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young seemed almost giddy.

“However my rehab is going, it kind of affects my mood for that day, so I’m in a great mood,” Young said.

Manager Kirk Gibson was a bit more cautious in his optimism.

“We want to make sure he’s ready to come back at full speed,” he said. “I just watched him swing, and he’s got a ways to go. I think he still favors it and isn’t 100 percent comfortable with it, certainly with his throwing.”

Still, Young was encouraged, and Gibson said there’s a chance Young might take part in an extended-spring-training game Thursday or play in rehab games next week.

“A few days ago I didn’t know if I’d be able to do all of that, but you get around your team again, get around your coaches, it kind of motivates you in its own way,” Young said.

“You know, you get the GM behind you while you’re hitting BP, it kind of fires you up and puts you in a different mind-set. It was an extremely positive day.”

Young said he took his usual 50 swings in batting practice. He threw about 120 feet on a line and said although there was some stiffness there was no pain.

“I treated it like a normal day,” he said. “I didn’t overdo it. I didn’t baby it in any kind of way.

“I’m just happy I can do everything baseball-related and not look like I’m guarding it.”

He plans to follow the same routine Tuesday but said there is no firm timetable.

“My own timetable is as soon as possible,” he said. “I don’t really know what the plan is. We’re getting so close now to where you don’t want to have any setbacks and want to be smart about what you’re doing.”

Hudson update

Right-hander Daniel Hudson confirmed that he will throw a bullpen session Tuesday, but he is trying to remain patient and not rush the process as he recovers from a right-shoulder injury.

“I feel like I could jump back out there today, but at the same time you still want to be smart,” he said. “I want to be pitching in September and October, not go back out and have two starts and have something happen. We’re just trying to be as smart as we can.”

Hudson said the plan is to throw more than 30 pitches Tuesday.

“(Thirty)ish,” he said. “Just till I feel good with the workload and the effort. I probably do too much with it — 35, 40 pitches or so.”

Gibson said “if everything goes good” Hudson might return near the end of the month.

“We’ve got to get him built back up,” he said. “At some point he’ll go to 50 pitches and then he’ll go to 75, and we’ll see where he’s at from there.”

And 1 more update

Shortstop Stephen Drew will play five innings in extended spring training Tuesday, and he evidently is making big strides over the past two weeks in his recovery from a serious ankle injury.

“We know Stephen is structurally good,” Gibson said. “The bone is strong. The ligament is strong. When your foot goes 180 degrees backwards, that ankle joint, there’s a lot of trauma in there. It just hurts. It gets sore and it swells up.

“So it’s got to be ready for that for what we want it to do. It’s not there yet, but he’s getting there.”

Said Drew: “I’ve come a long way. I’ve worked hard at it, and it’s good to see finally some bounce back after working hard, and seeing some payback for it.”

Down time

Young and Hudson said they struggled with remaining at home while their teammates embarked on a 10-day road trip.

The bonus: They got to watch the Coyotes.

“I became a hockey fan,” Young said.

Said Hudson of the time at home: “Brutal. It was awful. I didn’t know what to do with myself. (But) I got to watch a couple of hockey games … all three periods and a couple overtimes. It’s the first time I’d been able to do that, to try to learn the game a little bit.”

Most of the Valley’s attention was focused on an ice rink in Glendale on Monday night rather than Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.

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Diamondbacks-Cardinals photos | Monday’s box score | Twitter updates

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And maybe that was a good thing for the Diamondbacks.

The defending World Series champion St.Louis Cardinals pounded out five home runs and sent the Diamondbacks to their eighth loss in their past 10 games at Chase Field and their 13th loss in their past 20 overall.

The Cardinals won 9-6 but needed all of their firepower to withstand a six-run Arizona sixth inning.

St. Louis roughed up Arizona starter Joe Saunders, who came in with a 2-1 record and 1.24 ERA, touching him for three runs in the first inning, including Rafael Furcal’s 30th career leadoff home run.

They tacked on two more in the third on back-to-back home runs from Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday and chased Saunders in the fourth after nine hits and seven runs, six earned.

“I just didn’t have it, plain and simple,” Saunders said. “Six words. I didn’t have it.”

So it wasn’t quite six words. Saunders was a little off all night.

“Some nights you have it, some nights you don’t, and tonight I didn’t have it, plain and simple.

“When you don’t have it you’re going to give up runs, and turn the page. It’s a bad start. I had five good starts before this one and, turn the page. Forget it easily.”

Meanwhile, Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn shut out the Diamondbacks over five innings, giving up three hits and striking out seven to improve to 6-0 this season.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny pulled him for reliever J.C. Romero to start the sixth, and the Diamondbacks finally got something going, sending 11 batters to the plate and chasing Romero before he’d recorded a single out.

The six-run outburst cut the Cardinals lead to one, but they responded with back-to-back home runs from Allen Craig and David Freese to start the seventh.

“These guys lead the league in hitting … they’ve been on a roll,” Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. “The home runs were balls where you aren’t trying to get them and they whopped them.

“They hit five home runs off of us. We had a nice little comeback there, guys grinded it out, and then they got the two home runs back to back the next inning.”

Miguel Montero singled to lead off the sixth, and Cody Ransom followed with a deep, two-run home run to left, giving him four home runs and 12 RBIs through only 10 games.

“Cody has swung the bat really well for us,” Gibson said before the game, explaining his decision to keep Ransom in the starting lineup ahead of Ryan Roberts. “We need offense right now, and that’s why he’s in there.

“I’m trying to get Ryno back on track. I know he’s capable of it. He’s going to get his playing time. I’ve played Cody a bit more recently. Ryno is going to play as well.”

Roberts, who came into the game defensively at third with Ransom moving to shortstop, kept the rally going, drilling a two-run double that cut the St.Louis lead to 7-4 and ended Romero’s night without the Cardinals reliever recording an out.

And the Diamondbacks weren’t done.

A.J. Pollock reached on a chop single. Gerardo Parra laid down a bunt and beat out the throw. Paul Goldschmidt, who was held out of the lineup because of a bad head cold, struck out as a pinch-hitter and Jason Kubel fanned.

Montero, who had started it all, came up again, fell behind 0-2, worked the count to even, then bounced a single up the middle to drive in Pollock.

The six runs were the most by the Diamondbacks in an inning this season.

The Cardinals didn’t take long to respond, though. Craig and Freese went deep back to back to start the seventh, and the St.Louis lead was back to three runs.

“That hurt,” Gibson said.

View from the press box

In the 14 games prior to Monday, the Diamondbacks had hit .270 with 29 doubles and a .341 on-base percentage. But the hits haven’t always been timely. They went 2 for 28 with runners in scoring position in their series against the New York Mets, and Monday manager Kirk Gibson moved Justin Upton out of the third spot in the lineup for the first time since the 2010 season. It was easy to see why in the first inning. Gerardo Parra led off with a triple, but Upton struck out. Jason Kubel reached on a walk, stole second when Miguel Montero struck out, and then Cody Ransom struck out to end the inning, stranding Parra without so much as putting a ball in play.

NEW YORK – There are a handful of statistics Kirk Gibson will cite during his sessions with reporters, but there’s one in particular he seems to circle back to after losses — hitting with runners in scoring position.

The Diamondbacks went 3 for 28 in those situations while losing two of three to the Mets.

Most alarming to the manager: Justin Upton and Jason Kubel, the two guys with the run-producing, middle-of-the-order responsibilities, have not been coming through consistently all season. Upton is 2 for 20 (.100), and Kubel is 5 for 27 (.185).

“We need to get those guys going with runners in scoring position,” Gibson said. “That’s where they have to be better. Guys are pitching them tough, but they’re the 3-4 (hitters). It’s going to happen.”

Upton, who drove in Gerardo Parra from first base with a ninth-inning double Sunday, doesn’t think the team is pressing in those situations.

“No, it’s just a cycle of the game,” he said. “We were getting the big hit in situations early on in the road trip. At the end, we just didn’t get it. You can’t expect us to get a hit every time with runners in scoring position.”

Coming through

Shortstop John McDonald always has been known as a defensive wizard, but he’s been contributing with the bat, as well. Not that he wanted to talk about it.

McDonald didn’t seem to want to jinx himself when asked about the .371 average he brought into Sunday’s game.

“It’s just the way it’s bouncing,” he said. “You can see the ball good and go 0 for 20. There’s no rhyme or reason.”

Maybe he was right not to talk about it: He went 0 for 3 Sunday, making him 13 for 38 on the year.

Second baseman Aaron Hill, who has been teammates with McDonald going back to Toronto, mentioned the work McDonald put in with Blue Jays hitting coach Dwayne Murphy.

“It kind of got him not so passive, a little more aggressive at the plate,” Hill said.

Said McDonald: “It doesn’t necessarily mean swinging at the first pitch but trying to hit the ball hard when you hit it. Don’t just try to make contact.”

Short hops

First-base coach Eric Young left the team to return to Mississippi, where his father suffered a stroke. Young’s son, Eric Young Jr., an outfielder for the Rockies, was placed on the bereavement list by Colorado. Gibson was not sure when Young would rejoin the team.

- With an off day Thursday, the Diamondbacks have the option of rearranging their starting rotation. If they stay in order, left-hander Pat Corbin would open the weekend series against the San Francisco Giants. “Right now I’m planning on it (staying in rotation), but when we get home, we’ll get the calendar going,” Gibson said. “We’ll look at things long range.”

- Though he homered on Saturday, Ryan Roberts was not in the lineup Sunday, with Gibson opting for Cody Ransom instead. “He’s much more relaxed, not all freaked out,” Gibson said. “He’s coming along. My suspicion is, he’s going to get to the point where I feel comfortable putting him out there much more. This is a good pace for him right now, in my mind.”

Up next

St. Louis Cardinals

Update: With the departure of 1B Albert Pujols, most expected the Cardinals to take a step backward this season. When 1B Lance Berkman injured his calf early on, the doubts only increased. But the Cardinals are off to a good start, winners of 17 of their first 28 games. They have the majors’ best run differential (plus-62). Entering Sunday, their offense was averaging the third-most runs per game (5.33) in the league and their pitching staff had the NL’s second-best ERA (3.15). CF Jon Jay, 3B David Freese and RF Carlos Beltran are among several players in their lineup hitting well so far.

NEW YORK — Miguel Montero didn’t think it was just gone. He thought it was way gone, like hitting-off-the-overhang gone. When the ball left his bat with two out in the ninth inning Sunday, Montero stood there for a second, frozen in a familiar home-run pose.

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Series photos | Box score | Twitter updates

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But the right fielder caught the ball a few feet in front of the wall, putting a frustrating end to a frustrating stretch for the Diamondbacks, who lost 3-1 to the New York Mets.

It meant a series loss to the Mets, who took two of three from the Diamondbacks just as the Washington Nationals did last week. And so a road trip that began so promisingly in Miami ends with the Diamondbacks dropping under the .500 mark at 14-15.

Unlike other recent losses, this one left a bad impression. Aside from being handcuffed by a knuckleballer in Mets right-hander R.A. Dickey, they committed a handful of fundamental faux pas that manager Kirk Gibson rattled off after the game.

He mentioned starter Trevor Cahill issuing a leadoff walk in the first, opening the door for a two-run first inning. He mentioned another walk by Cahill that scored in the fourth. There was an ill-advised throw from center fielder Gerardo Parra that led to a run and, later in the game, Parra was picked off first base.

“I don’t think we played a very good game (Sunday),” Gibson said. “… When you’re playing so many close games, it’s just hard to make mistakes like that.”

When a reporter said something about the amount of frustrating games his team has played compared to last year, Gibson shot back, “You don’t need to remind me.”

The Diamondbacks have high expectations — both internally and externally — but they haven’t been able to get going the past few weeks.

“It’s a bad feeling,” Montero said. “I think we haven’t clicked together all the way. The pitchers have been doing a hell of a job. We can’t ask for any more. Just the hitting. We haven’t put it all together. It’s just a bad (taste) to go home, losing, it’s just not right.”

Montero’s right about the pitching. The Diamondbacks didn’t allow more than five runs in any game on the trip, but as Gibson mentioned before the game, it’s scoring five runs that has been the key. They’re 12-3 when they’ve scored five runs or more and 2-12 the rest of the time.

“We had opportunities to win a lot of the games that we lost (on the road trip),” infielder John McDonald said. “Obviously, that’s disappointing, and for a team that wants to get to the postseason, we can’t have trips like this.”

Dickey’s knuckleball elicited some awkward swings from the Diamondbacks in the early innings. They didn’t get a hit until the fourth and were held scoreless until the ninth, when Justin Upton lined a double into the left-field corner, chasing Dickey from the game.

Jason Kubel followed by driving a ball to the warning track in left field off reliever Tim Byrdak, who then gave way to Mets closer Frank Francisco. He got Paul Goldschmidt swinging at a fastball for the second out, bringing up Montero.

It already had been a frustrating day for the Diamondbacks catcher, who struck out on seven pitches in his first two at-bats before bouncing into a double play to end the seventh.

But when he slammed an 0-2 fastball from Francisco, it looked like he had tied the game.

“I thought,” he said, “it was a no-doubter.”

His teammates on the bench thought the same thing. But, they say, the wind must have knocked it down, as Lucas Duda caught it easily, a few steps in front of the right-field wall, sending the Diamondbacks home with a 5-5 record on a road trip that could have been better.

“We expect a lot more,” Montero said. “Each of the players here expect a lot more.”

Diamondbacks rewind

Dickey deals: The Diamondbacks looked so feeble against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey in the first few innings that Mets manager Terry Collins wondered if Dickey might have no-hit stuff.

The Diamondbacks finished with four hits and four walks against Dickey in eight-plus innings.

“It goes in a lot of different directions,” Diamondbacks infielder John McDonald said of Dickey’s knuckler. “Some days you’re going to take better swings off of it as others. Unfortunately, today we didn’t have as many balls that we put in play find grass.”

Cahill’s day: Right-hander Trevor Cahill didn’t pitch badly, particularly outside of the two-run first inning. He gave up just seven baserunners in seven innings.

But the Mets took advantage of a couple of mistakes in the first inning. Cahill got ahead of leadoff man Andres Torres 0-2, but missed the zone on the next four pitches. He went to third on David Wright’s one-out single, and Wright moved to center on Parra’s throw to third.

That throw wound up costing them a run when David Murphy followed with a two-run single.

“I thought I made a pretty good pitch,” Cahill said. “He was able to fight it off and get a single.”

Bad decision? Instead of pitching to Murphy, who had four hits Saturday, the Diamondbacks could have walked him to get to the ice-cold Ike Davis, who entered the day hitting .172.

“It’s kind of too early in the game,” Cahill said, when asked if he considered an intentional walk. “I was just kind of going right after him. I didn’t want to walk another guy. Maybe I should have. Who knows?”

View from the press box

The Diamondbacks really seem to be missing the power that Chris Young had provided in the season’s first couple of weeks. They’ve homered about half as often in the 18 games they’ve played without him. Then again, it’s probably unfair to have expected Young to maintain that pace, making the slow power starts by Justin Upton (three), Jason Kubel (three) and Paul Goldschmidt (one) all the more noticeable.

Pitchers notes: The Diamondbacks’ Trevor Cahill turned in one of his better starts in his most-recent outing, throwing 7 1/3 innings and giving up just one run in a win against the Nationals. He walked just one, a season low. … His command has been solid since he walked six in his first start. In his other four starts, he has walked seven in 25 2/3 innings. … Right-handed hitters are just 9 for 47 (.191) against him. … With Tim Wakefield retiring, the Mets’ R.A. Dickey is the only knuckleball pitcher left in baseball. … He’s walking three batters per nine innings and striking out 8.3, solid rates, but he has given up seven home runs, at least one in each of his five starts. Still, four of his five starts have been quality starts (six innings or more pitched, and three or fewer runs allowed). … The only time he faced the Diamondbacks was in 2010, when he gave up three runs in seven innings.

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