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.”

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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.

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.

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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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.

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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 — 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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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?”

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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.

NEW YORK — There were times, Cody Ransom admitted, when he wondered if he were destined to be just a minor-leaguer. Maybe he was good enough for Triple-A but didn’t quite have what it takes to be a big-leaguer.

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“There was a time,” he said, “when I thought I was done. In 2005. I thought I was done playing already.”

Maybe Ransom is just getting started. The 36-year-old journeyman infielder delivered two more huge hits for the Diamondbacks, drilling a two-run homer and knocking in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning single in a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets on Friday at Citi Field.

The win snapped a two-game skid, gave the Diamondbacks their first one-run victory since April 8 and, with two games remaining, assured them of at least a .500 record on an arduous 10-game road trip.

Once again, Ransom played a huge part. At the time the Diamondbacks brought him up from Triple-A on April 18, he had amassed a little more than a half-season’s worth of at-bats in the major leagues in parts of nine seasons. Most were cups of coffee, a handful of at-bats here and there while someone was on the disabled list, but Ransom rarely was able to make the most of the opportunities.

“I’ve had a lot of them,” he said. “There’s been times when I’ve had opportunities and I’d come up and don’t play a lot and play off the bench. It’s a great job if you can do it. I’ve been good at it at times and really bad at it at times. Hopefully, it’s time for some good ones.”

Ransom has provided the kind of lift for the Diamondbacks that Ryan Roberts gave them last season. But as Roberts has struggled this year to hit his weight, Ransom has seen more time at third base.

With two hits Friday, he is 10 for 29 (.345) with three doubles and three home runs. Not bad for a guy who owned a .220 average in the majors entering the year.

“Confidence is probably a big part of it,” he said. “Knowing that I can play here and actually believing it. Not trying to do too much. I go down to Triple-A, and I put up pretty good numbers. I try to take that same approach here and not try to do too much.”

Ransom, who attended Chandler High, didn’t play much in Triple-A for the Chicago Cubs in 2005, and he wondered if the end was near. But he latched on with Houston the next year and made it back to the majors. He has been up and down from the minors every year since.

“It’s hard to put it all together in the big leagues,” Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero said. “I don’t know if he ever had an opportunity to play every day in the big leagues, but right now I think he’s going to get a lot of playing time. He’s been huge for us. I’ve got a feeling every time he comes to the plate right now that he’s going to get a big hit.”

Ransom lined a first-pitch fastball from Mets right-hander Dillon Gee into the left-field stands in the second inning to give the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead. But after the Mets scored four times in the third, the Diamondbacks had to rally in the eighth.

After Paul Goldschmidt shot a game-tying, two-run double into right-center, Ransom gave his team the lead by lining a full-count slider from former Diamondbacks reliever Jon Rauch into left field for a hit.

“Just tried to get a pitch and stay through the middle,” Ransom said. “I’ve been a little too aggressive with runners in scoring position, so I was trying to be a little more patient and get a little better pitch to hit.”

Diamondbacks rewind

Miley battles: Left-hander Wade Miley had trouble spotting his fastball, but he was able to shake off a rough third inning and make it through six innings.

He said one key was pitching backward, i.e., throwing breaking balls early in the count before going to the fastball.

“Once you’re out there and you’re not feeling great, you’ve got to figure out a way to win, a way to keep the team in the game,” he said. “We were able to do that tonight.”

Goldschmidt’s big hit: Paul Goldschmidt was hitless in three at-bats when he came to the plate with the tying run on base in the eighth inning. He lined the first pitch he saw from right-hander Jon Rauch for a two-run double.

“I was just looking for something to hit, whether it was early or late in the count, just something up a little bit,” Goldschmidt said. “He threw his slider or cutter or whatever he has, and it was up and middle of the plate, and I was able to put a good swing on it.”

Putz closes it: After two outings in which his command wasn’t good, closer J.J. Putz looked to be back on track in the ninth inning, striking out two of the three hitters he faced.

“His split was much better,” manager Kirk Gibson said. “When you see (catcher Miguel Montero) blocking it in the dirt like that, you know it’s good.”

Center fielder Gerardo Parra made a diving catch of a Daniel Murphy line drive in the gap to end the game.

View from the press box

Former Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch, who died Friday of cancer, was known to be a big Mets fan, and the players had a cool way to pay tribute to him. Every Mets player came to bat to a Beastie Boys song, an idea hatched by infielder Justin Turner and outfielder Scott Hairston. The Mets were rocking out to their songs in the clubhouse before the game.

Josh Collmenter had not seen the sixth inning this season, let alone the seventh, and considering the Diamondbacks made a roster move to add a multi-inning reliever before the game, the team was preparing for the possibility of another short night for the right-hander Tuesday.

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Collmenter gave the Diamondbacks innings. But, again, he could not give them results. He was charged with six earned runs in six-plus innings in the Diamondbacks’ 8-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field.

Though ugly numbers continue to pile up on Collmenter, his manager continues to say he sees progress.

“That’s the best he’s thrown it this year,” Kirk Gibson said.

At what point do the Diamondbacks need to see better results from Collmenter?

“I think the results were there for him,” Gibson said.

Bad ones, perhaps. In four starts this season, Collmenter has given up 20 earned runs in 181/3 innings. The Diamondbacks are 1-3 in those games. The lone win required a rally from a 6-0 deficit.

Progress or not, Collmenter seems again to be teetering on the edge of losing his rotation spot. Or, at least, his status again has become a topic of discussion during Gibson’s sessions with reporters.

“I’m not thinking about that,” Gibson said. “We just lost the game. I’m thinking about getting this over with and thinking about tomorrow. We’ll have conversations, just as we do every day, about all aspects of our team.”

Collmenter’s outing might not have been as bad as the final numbers suggest. Most of the damage came in the fourth inning, when he served up two-run homers to Hunter Pence and Laynce Nix.

The Pence shot was more good hitting than bad pitching; the fastball was down and away, right where catcher Miguel Montero wanted it, and Pence drove it out to right field for an opposite-field home run.

But after Ty Wigginton doubled on a curveball that was left up in the zone, Nix crushed a letter-high change-up for another two-run shot to make it 4-0.

He was charged with two more runs during a disastrous top of the seventh. Collmenter gave up consecutive singles to start the inning before giving way to reliever Bryan Shaw.

A sacrifice bunt put men on second and third when Juan Pierre hit a looper to left field, where Jason Kubel slid to make the catch.

Only second-base umpire Angel Hernandez saw it different, ruling that Kubel had trapped it.

Replays showed otherwise, but the Phillies wound up with the bases loaded for Pete Orr, who rifled a triple into the right-field corner to clear the bases and give the Phillies a 7-1 lead.

“You guys saw it,” Kubel said. “I don’t need to say anything.”

Gibson, who briefly argued the call, said Hernandez told him he saw the ball hit the ground.

“That’s what he saw,” Gibson said. “What am I going to say? We have to overcome that, and we were unable to do that.”

The Diamondbacks clawed back, using three doubles to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh and getting a solo shot from Kubel in the eighth. But it wasn’t enough, and after Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon got Aaron Hill to fly out to end the game, the Diamondbacks (9-9) found themselves back at the .500 mark.

View from the press box

He hasn’t been with the Diamondbacks long, but Jason Kubel seems like a quiet, even-tempered guy. But even the most mild-mannered players are going to snap after a night like Kubel had. He struck out looking in three consecutive at-bats — one of the third-strike calls was extremely generous, at best — and then had a call go against him defensively in the seventh inning. He said he “flipped out” after the play in the field. It’s hard to blame him.

Rewind

Ransom shines: Starting his third consecutive game at third base, Cody Ransom continued to make a case for more playing time.

Ransom singled and homered and is 5 for 11 in the past three days.

“He’s swinging the bat good right now,” manager Kirk Gibson said. “I don’t know how it’s going to shake out at the end of the year. Right now he’s swinging good. He’s playing good. Who wouldn’t play him?

“We’ve struggled for offense not too long ago. It’s how it goes.”

Meanwhile, Ryan Roberts lined a pinch-hit double to left field in the seventh inning to snap an 0-for-15 skid.

Worley’s night: The Diamondbacks forced Vance Worley to throw 110 pitches in six innings, but they were unable to break through against the Phillies right-hander.

Worley, who gave up just one run in six innings, was impressed by what he saw from Diamondbacks hitters.

“They were pretty good up there,” he said. “They fouled the pitches off that they needed to. The stuff I wanted them to swing and miss at, they took. They are very patient.”

Zagurski debuts: Left-hander Mike Zagurski made his first appearance in a Diamondbacks uniform, giving up a run in the eighth on a Shane Victorino solo homer.

But he bounced back and retired the next six batters.

DENVER – Even if the Diamondbacks had come away with a win Friday night, there would have been some corners of the visitors clubhouse at Coors Field that would have preferred to have had certain parts of the evening — if not the entire thing — erased from the record books.

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Their 7-6 loss to the Colorado Rockies was the kind of game that speeds up the aging process for manager Kirk Gibson. That is, assuming his head didn’t explode just after watching it.

His starting pitcher was a wreck, his defense faltered, his lineup failed in key situations, and the go-ahead run was helped along by, of all things, a botched attempt to control the running game.

“We didn’t play well,” Gibson said. “That’s not the way we play. We were unable to make pitches and unable to make plays. It wasn’t a very fun game to be a part of.”

The Diamondbacks are used to making the comebacks, but this time it was the Rockies who rallied from a 6-2 deficit.

Things began swimmingly for the Diamondbacks. A Paul Goldschmidt two-run single made it 2-0 in the first, and the Diamondbacks scored four more runs in the third, chasing Rockies starter Juan Nicasio after just 22/3 innings.

A four-run lead usually is enough for Daniel Hudson, a pitcher the Diamondbacks normally can count on to get them into the middle innings. In 50 career starts entering the game, Hudson had gone at least five innings in 47.

No. 48 will have to wait another five days. Hudson and the lead were gone after 32/3 innings.

“I couldn’t find a rhythm,” Hudson said. “I couldn’t get anything going. Obviously, I couldn’t get a guy out with two outs. It was one of those nights.”

Part of it was tough luck. Take the third inning. With two on and two out, Justin Upton lost a Ramon Hernandez line drive in the lights, the ball getting over his head for a two-run double. An inning earlier, he appeared to struggle to get a read on a Marco Scutaro liner but managed to make the play.

Rockies right fielder Michael Cuddyer had the same thing happen on a Miguel Montero ball in the seventh.

“Any ball hit on a line with a little bit of loft is hit right in the lights,” Upton said. “It’s one of those things you’ve got to battle, man, and hope the ball stays below it or comes out of it at some point. Obviously, both of us got one tonight that we couldn’t handle.

After Todd Helton laced a two-run single to right to tie the score, Hudson’s night was over after 10 hits, three walks and six runs.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks offense was beginning to sputter. They had runners on second and third with nobody out in the fourth, but Rockies reliever Esmil Rogers struck out two of the next three batters to escape the jam.

It still was tied when reliever Bryan Shaw entered in the eighth. With a man on, Shaw fired a pickoff throw to first that got past Goldschmidt and rolled down the right-field line. Goldschmidt was charged with the error as the runner moved to third.

Shaw’s main weapon is his cut fastball, a pitch he began throwing almost accidentally. But on the pickoff attempt, he thinks the liveliness of his ball wound up hurting him.

“Everything I throw over there cuts to Goldy,” he said. “When I throw to first, I try to start it toward his left hip, and it usually cuts right over the bag. I’ve got to get my body turned and keep my arm from dragging behind. That’s when the ball cuts a little more.”

Two batters later, Helton drilled a double into left field to give the Rockies the lead.

View from the press box

The Diamondbacks probably will have a difficult decision to make when right-hander Takashi Saito is ready to come off the disabled list next week. Right-hander Brad Ziegler has had a shaky month or so, dating to spring training. But his outings the past two days have been encouraging, as he appears to be returning to the form that allowed him to post a career 2.43 ERA entering the year.

Rewind

Goldschmidt errs: First baseman Paul Goldschmidt was charged with the error in the eighth inning when Bryan Shaw’s throw on a pickoff attempt got past him.

It was the first error of Goldschmidt’s career. He had played 47 errorless games with 417 chances entering the game.

“It kind of took me up the line,” Goldschmidt said of the throw. “I tried to snag it, but it hit off my glove. I wasn’t able to knock it down.”

Shaw said his throw was off the mark.

Bad night: Right-hander Daniel Hudson, who lasted just 3 2/3 innings, had gone at least five innings in 47 of his 50 career starts entering the night. He gave up six earned runs, the second-highest total of his career.

“He couldn’t execute his pitches,” manager Kirk Gibson said. “Couldn’t get them where he wanted them to. Didn’t have the command. It was a small zone for both teams, but they pounded it. They did well.”

RISP trouble: The Diamondbacks again could not come through consistently with runners in scoring position, going just 1 for 9. The lone hit was a two-run, first-inning single by Goldschmidt.

The Diamondbacks are 9 for 64 (.141) in those situations through the first seven games.

“I like our mentality in those situations,” Upton said. “Nobody is in panic mode when we get in those big situations. Sometimes you don’t get the run. Those guys are out there to get you out, and that’s what they were able to do.”

Shortstop Willie Bloomquist homered, doubled and singled to drive in three runs and stole two bases, and the Diamondbacks ended spring training with a 14-3 victory over the Brewers at Chase Field.

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Diamondbacks-Brewers series photos | Box score

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Brewers outfielder Corey Hart homered in his second game back from knee surgery. On March 6, Hart had arthroscopic surgery to repair two cartilage tears in his right knee, and he made his spring debut Tuesday night.

Diamondbacks starter Joe Saunders allowed three runs in five innings, allowing five hits with five strikeouts and a walk.

Brewers starter Shaun Marcum gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

PEORIA — Dustin Moseley induced four double plays in six innings Sunday and the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3.

Moseley limited Arizona to a run and seven hits. He had three strikeouts and doubled and scored a run in his only at-bat.

Mark Kotsay went 2 for 3 with an RBI double for the Padres. Rookie first baseman Yonder Alonso also went 2 for 3 with an RBI for San Diego.

Arizona pitcher Josh Collmenter allowed two runs, five hits and walked two in five innings.

Outfielder Justin Upton and catcher Miguel Montero each went 2 for 3 for the Diamondbacks.

Second baseman Aaron Hill had an RBI ground out.

SCOTTSDALE — Yovanni Gallardo is working on a new pitch, and he’s starting to like the results.

Gallardo was sharp into the fifth inning, matching Daniel Hudson on the mound, and the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks tied 0-0 Wednesday.

“I got some work from the stretch today and I got some double plays to get out of some jams,” Gallardo said. “I worked on my changeup today. It is just matter of having confidence in it. I am still working on it. I am starting to feel comfortable with it and that is a good sign.”

Gallardo went 4 2-3 innings, allowing seven hits, a walk and striking out three in the game.

“He just needs to command the ball a little bit more consistently,” Brewer Manager Ron Roenicke said. “Today he was up in the zone a lot even though he got away with it. Maybe by throwing the different speed pitches he can miss some spots and get away with it.”

Hudson worked five innings and gave up just two hits, a walk and struck out four. Hudson, who is locked into the second spot in Arizona’s rotation, dropped his ERA to 2.57 for the spring.

“I was able to work some pitches in and out and make some different pitches is different counts as well,” Hudson said. “The pitches are coming along great, the ball feels good coming out of my hand. I can’t ask for too much more when you are getting good results as well.”

For Milwaukee, Tim Dillard, Jose Veras, Zack Braddock and Mike McClendon combined allowed just two hits.

Arizona’s trio of relievers David Hernadez, Charles Brewer and Jensen Lewis yielded three hits.

Chris Young and Aaron Hill had two hits apiece for Arizona, who had its seventh sellout in 10 home games.

Nyjer Morgan had two hits, including a double for the Brewers.

SCOTTSDALE — Padres pitching prospect Joe Wieland struck out four and allowed just two hits in four innings, and San Diego’s split squad beat the Arizona Diamondbacks’ split squad 8-0 on Wednesday.

“I like the use of the fastball hitting both sides of the plate and he mixed in some changes, which he needs to do,” manager Bud Black said. “A good breaking ball and a good curveball to (Aaron) Hill to end the fourth — that was big. A little stress on him and he made some pitches.”

Chase Headley and Carlos Quentin hit back-to-back home runs and Nate Freiman added a three-run homer.

“Our offense stayed on them and a couple of big swings by Q and Chase were good to see,” Black said. “We added on there in the ninth. All three homers were well struck.”

Patrick Corbin started the game for Arizona and allowed three hits and struck out three in three scoreless innings. Trevor Bauer, the third overall pick of last June’s draft, followed Corbin, going two innings and giving up one hit and one walk while striking out three.

“It looked like he had a lot of composure from the first pitch,” Diamondback manager Kirk Gibson said. “Bauer threw the ball well. He hung an 0-2 curveball and stranded the guy out there. I am sure he was not happy with it but the important thing was he got out of the inning.”

Takashi Saito gave up the home runs to Headley and Quentin, the first two batters he faced.

NOTES: Padres second baseman Orlando Hudson was a late scratch because of a strained right groin. He will miss several days. . For the second consecutive day, Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton was hit by a pitch. Last season Upton was hit 19 times to tie for the most in the National league. The Washington Nationals’ Danny Espinosa was also plunked 19 times last season . Both benches were warned after Diamondbacks pitcher David Hernandez hit the Padres’ Will Venerable in the seventh inning.

Dan Haren has been nearly perfect this spring.

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Arizona Diamondbacks spring training – 2012

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Haren struck out seven of the last eight batters he faced in three innings, and the Los Angeles Angels went on to beat the Diamondbacks 3-0 on Tuesday.

Haren gave up one hit, a leadoff single to Willie Bloomquist, and walked none. It’s the only hit the former Diamondbacks ace has allowed in two spring starts. Overall, he has 10 strikeouts and one walk in five scoreless innings.

In the third, Haren needed 10 pitches to strike out Ryan Roberts, Trevor Cahill and Bloomquist. The one ball he threw was to Cahill, the Arizona starting pitcher who got knocked around a bit for the second time in a row.

“The most important part of spring is feeling good and I felt better this time than I did last time,” Haren said. “There’s always aches and pains that go along with spring training, and of course I want to do well, facing guys that I know still. It brings out a little bit more in me. I still know quite a few guys over there, so it’s fun.”

Fun for him, maybe, but not for the Diamondbacks, who struck out 14 times overall and managed just two hits against five Los Angeles pitchers.

“Danny carved us up,” Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said.

This even though he was not throwing his curve, concentrating on his split-finger fastball.

“I probably threw 10 splits, which is quite a few in three innings,” he said.

Haren spent 21/2 seasons with the Diamondbacks before being sent to the Angels during the 2010 season for lefty Joe Saunders and three minor leaguers, including top prospect Tyler Skaggs.

Haren said he still had friends on Arizona and was happy to watch the Diamondbacks in their worst-to-first run in the NL West last season.

“It was fun to watch,” Haren said. “Watching Ian (Kennedy) was the coolest part for me. I texted him or called him once the season was over and congratulated him. … It’s the same core guys. For some reason we didn’t do much when I was here but I think the younger guys grew up a bit. The bullpen obviously did a much better job last year and a couple of guys stepped up.”

But Haren has talent around him with the Angels, too.

“On paper we look great. We’ve still got to go out and get it done,” he said. “But, man, I haven’t been this excited for a season for a long, long time.”

Skaggs bounced back from his awful first outing of the spring with two scoreless innings for Arizona. He allowed one hit and struck out one.

“I’d say it’s a lot better,” he said. “It felt really good. I felt like I was throwing strikes and it’s good to face some old teammates.”

Skaggs said he’d played with just about everyone the Angels sent to the plate against him.

The record crowd of 12,552 watched the game in warm sunshine at Salt River Fields, in its second season as the spring training home for the Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

“It’s beautiful here,” Haren said. “I mean, the weight room — I went in there — it’s awesome. They did it right. I’d heard all good things and it’s pretty cool seeing it.”

Notes: Alexi Amarista hit his second home run of the spring for the Angels, a solo shot off Cahill, who allowed two runs and five hits in three innings. Cahill struck out three with no walks. … Cahill, who came to the Diamondbacks from Oakland in an offseason trade, is 0-2 this spring. He has allowed five runs on nine hits in five innings, including three home runs.

The Diamondbacks’ grounds crew used a combination of cotton candy and lemonade to help disperse a swarm of bees that delayed the San Francisco Giants split squad’s 11-1 win over Arizona for 41 minutes in the second inning Sunday.

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Spring Training: Diamondbacks | Cactus League | Fans

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Diamondbacks ace Ian Kennedy was on the mound when the bees showed up and didn’t return after the 41-minute delay. Kennedy threw 29 pitches, allowing one run and three hits.

Giants starter, non-roster invitee Brian Burres, was also pulled after the delay. He allowed one hit in one inning.

Once the game resumed Hector Sanchez smacked the first pitch from Diamondbacks reliever Barry Enright for an RBI single to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. San Francisco blew the game open in the fourth inning when the first four batters all singled and scored.

Ryan Theriot, Sanchez and Brett Pill each had three hits for San Francisco in a 21-hit barrage. Sanchez also had three RBIs and Pill two.

Report

At Salt River Fields

Giants 11, Diamondbacks 1

At the plate: The Diamondbacks were held to seven hits, including a double down the left-field line by 2B Aaron Hill in the first inning. C Miguel Montero and 1B Paul Goldschmidt lined consecutive singles in the fourth inning.

On the mound: RHP Ian Kennedy left the game during a bee delay in the second inning but said he was just one pitch short of his limit, anyway. He gave up one run and three hits in 11/3 innings. “You try to get your work in, try to get your command back and the feel for a game,” Kennedy said. RHP Barry Enright gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in 12/3 innings, and RHP Joe Martinez, Takashi Saito and David Hernandez also gave up runs. Manager Kirk Gibson said his pitchers couldn’t adjust to the Giants’ aggressive approach. “(Our pitchers) realized it but couldn’t get their secondary stuff over,” he said. “If you don’t throw it over, you get behind, and then you throw another fastball down the middle, whack.”

Record: 1-1-1.

Monday: Diamondbacks RHP Daniel Hudson at Rockies RHP Jhoulys Chacin, 1:10 p.m., Salt River Fields.

- Nick Piecoro