DENVER – The jammed left thumb that kept Justin Upton out of the Diamondbacks lineup earlier this week is still “bothering him considerably,” manager Kirk Gibson said.

But after not starting Tuesday’s game, Upton was back in the lineup for the third consecutive game Friday against the Colorado Rockies.

“I think it’s pretty considerable,” Gibson said. “But we’ve got a game tonight. It’s nice and cold out. Enjoy the pain.”

Gibson said Upton hasn’t participated in regular batting practice the past two days, a way to ease the stress on the thumb, which he injured while sliding hard into second base Sunday at Chase Field.

“Just going to go play,” Gibson said. “The reality of it is, in a way it’s good. I played with a guy who didn’t take BP one time for three-quarters of the season and he raked — Lou Whitaker.

“Sometimes you take too much and you get too technical and it works against you. He’s been grinding on it. He hasn’t hit the ball the way he can. It’s the way we have to deal with it.”

Upton has been hitting with padding around the thumb to minimize the pain. Gibson was asked if the injury will heal despite Upton playing.

“It should,” Gibson said. “But he’s beating on it every day, so it’s not going to heal as quick as it would normally. If he were a writer, it would heal a lot quicker.”

Collmenter’s turn

Right-hander Josh Collmenter’s rough spring training and shaky first start has put him under the spotlight Saturday night, when he’ll try to rediscover the form that made him one of the Diamondbacks’ better pitchers last season.

General Manager Kevin Towers said it’s all about locating his pitches better and keeping himself out of counts in which hitters can sit on a certain pitch.

Asked if Collmenter’s struggles from the spring might shorten his leash in the regular season, Towers said, “We want to win as many games as we can. I think we’ll judge it like we do with everybody. With every pitcher, we take it outing by outing.”

Towers said the team isn’t going to pull the plug after one bad start, but he mentioned other options the organization has, including long reliever Wade Miley, the club’s Double-A prospects and its more experienced Triple-A staff.

“Do we give him another start? A couple more starts?” Towers asked. “As of right now, he’s one of our five, and I’m hoping he’s going to put together a good start tomorrow and we don’t have to answers questions about him.”

Saito update

Reliever Takashi Saito threw a perfect inning in extended spring training, striking out two and throwing 10 pitches.

Towers said Saito might pitch once more, perhaps Monday, before the club looks to activate him from the disabled list, at which point the team will have a difficult decision.

“That’s a good position to be in,” Towers said. “Everybody’s kind of throwing the ball fairly well up here. Ultimately when he comes back there will be an odd man out, which maybe the person isn’t deserving of going down, but you need depth.”

If they tried to go without a long man, that would mean sending out Miley, who tossed four hitless innings Sunday. Right-hander Brad Ziegler, who has options, had a shaky spring and a rough debut outing, but he put up a scoreless inning Thursday.

When Wednesday afternoon’s exhibition game at Chase Field concluded and brought an end to spring training for the Diamondbacks, bench coach Alan Trammell turned to manager Kirk Gibson. “I think I just heard a gun go off,” Trammell said.

He was referring to a starter’s gun, his way of saying the season is upon them.

The Diamondbacks will be going into the year on a high note. They crushed the Milwaukee Brewers 14-3, getting three hits from shortstop Willie Bloomquist and solid outings from pitchers Joe Saunders and Trevor Cahill, who between them allowed eight baserunners in nine innings.

Before the Diamondbacks open their season at 4:10 p.m. on Friday at Chase Field, Gerardo Parra will receive his Gold Glove award. Justin Upton and Daniel Hudson will be given their Silver Slugger awards. And Kevin Towers will present Gibson with the National League Manager of the Year award. Then they will unveil another “A” logo in left field to commemorate the franchise’s fifth NL West title.

All the while, the San Francisco Giants will be in the visitor’s dugout.

“It was pretty fitting from our standpoint how it all played out last year, with us being able to clinch against them at home,” Bloomquist said. “But I’m sure they didn’t like that too much, and they’re going to be gunning for us. That’s great. That’s what makes the game fun and a little bit more competitive. They’ve got a great team. We’ve got a good team. Let’s go.”

It will be hard to view the Diamondbacks in the underdog role Gibson prefers. On Wednesday, ESPN.com published its staff predictions and 16 of its 50 experts picked the Diamondbacks to go to the World Series. Those picks fall in line with others in the baseball media, many of the same people who a year ago had the Diamondbacks finishing in last place.

For Bloomquist, his day represented a perfect ending to what had been a frustrating spring.

Well, nearly perfect. He singled, doubled, homered and had a sacrifice fly, but the first question he received from reporters was about the introduction he was met with when he came to the plate in the first inning.

“Now batting,” the public address announcer intoned, “Bill ‘The Kid’ Bloomquist,” while the mawkish song “Almost Paradise” by ’80s band Loverboy played over the loudspeakers.

It was a prank concocted by closer J.J. Putz, who pulled the same move at Salt River Fields early in the Cactus League season. The backstory: While teammates in Seattle, they were on a road trip to Minnesota when they came upon a guy in an “electric red” VW convertible blasting the song so loud it “literally rattled the building walls.”

“It struck us as the funniest thing in the world at the time,” Bloomquist said.

After doubling in the first inning, Bloomquist is 2 for 2 when the song is played, creating an issue: Should he stick with the song, as awkward as it might be, as his at-bat music?

“Over the course of your career you’re faced with a lot of tough decisions,” Bloomquist deadpanned. “This is going to be one of them.

“The writing could be on the wall, but just as long as everyone knows it wasn’t me who decided that.”

He acknowledged that it could have been just the thing he needed to loosen up, something he’d been trying to do after his spring training average dropped below .200 over the weekend.

Gibson said he spoke at length with Bloomquist on Tuesday night, asking him what mattered more, his career numbers or those from the past few weeks? “You’ve proven you can do it,” Gibson told him.

Like last year, Bloomquist figures to again be a key player for the Diamondbacks, who will be counting on him to bat leadoff and hold down shortstop until Stephen Drew is healthy.

They played some of their best baseball last season with Bloomquist as their shortstop. They are hoping to pick up on Friday where they left off, now that the starter’s gun has been fired.

Corey Hart homered in his second game back from knee surgery and the Milwaukee Brewers ended spring training with a 14-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Diamondbacks shortstop Willie Bloomquist homered, doubled and singled to drive in three runs and stole two bases in the Cactus League finale for the Diamondbacks, held at home ballpark Chase Field.

“I am not worrying about the stats part of it, I just want to feel good,” Bloomquist said. “I want to feel like myself in the box. Whether I am getting results or not, during spring training I could care less.”

He also faces a major decision. His big day came after his at-bat music was “Almost Paradise,” the love theme from the 1984 movie “Footloose.” It’s not the most intimidating track to dig in to.

“Over the course of your career you have to make some tough decisions and this is going to be one of them but the two times they played it I have gotten hits,” Bloomquist said. “If I do keep it and the writing could be on the wall, as long as everyone knows that it wasn’t me that decided it.”

Bloomquist will start in place of the injured Stephen Drew this season.

Chris Young drove in three runs for the Diamondbacks and Jake Williams, the son of Diamondbacks third-base coach Matt Williams, added a two-run double for Arizona.

On March 6, Hart had arthroscopic surgery to repair two cartilage tears in his right knee, and he made his spring debut Tuesday night with a double in the Brewers’ 5-3 loss to Arizona.

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

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

“I wanted to get my pitch count up,” Marcum said. “I wasn’t really focused on results or anything like that. It was more getting the pitch count up and making some quality pitches. I was able to do that.”

Reliever Manny Parra did not retire any of the six batters his faced in the eighth inning, when the Diamondbacks scored six runs. Parra was charged with four runs, four hits and two walks.

NOTES: The Diamondbacks announced several roster moves to get down to 25. Reliever Takashi Saito will begin the season on the 15-day disabled list with a right calf strain. … LHP Mike Zagurski was outrighted to Triple-A Reno and C Ryan Budde, INF Cody Ransom and OF A.J. Pollack were also reassigned to Reno. … Milwaukee finished the Cactus League with a 15-16-2 mark, their first losing spring campaign since 2007.

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.

Josh Collmenter knew everyone’s eyes were upon him with each dreadful start he made this spring. But the only eyes that mattered to him were the two belonging to his manager.

Kirk Gibson has defended him at every turn, although some of the skipper’s comments have been left up to interpretation in recent days.

It got to the point where fans had to wonder if Collmenter’s final spring appearance Tuesday night at Chase Field could be a make-or-break proposition.

If he faltered again, might Gibson instead turn to young left-hander Patrick Corbin and remove Collmenter from the starting rotation? Gibson did, after all, suggest Monday that “things could change.”

Considering Gibson only days ago anointed Collmenter as his No. 3 starter behind Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson, that would be a pretty drastic change.

But Collmenter isn’t going anywhere, and he hasn’t lost his job. He said he was reassured of that by Gibson after pitching three innings and allowing no hits and one unearned run during a 5-3 victory over the Brewers in front of 14,270.

“He said, ‘Good job, way to go get ‘em,’ and that everything is on par for my next start, yeah,” Collmenter said, adding of Gibson, “He’s had my back the whole time, and he’s been great about that.

“Now it’s my turn to take the ball and reward his confidence in me and show him he’s making the right decision.”

After the game, Gibson announced that the Diamondbacks had optioned Corbin and fellow lefty Tyler Skaggs to Double-A Mobile and that reliever Takashi Saito had injured his calf while stretching earlier in the day. Saito will have an MRI and be re-examined today.

As for Collmenter, Gibson confirmed that the right-hander will start Sunday’s series finale against the visiting Giants.

Collmenter had an abysmal spring. In his first five starts, he allowed 21 earned runs in 16 innings. He also missed a start because of forearm tightness.

He was much better Tuesday in an effort that featured one hit batter, a walk, a wild pitch and an error by first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.

“I felt really good. I just got back to basics and felt more like myself,” Collmenter said. “The rhythm and tempo was there, and I think that was the big thing I was missing. I was trying too much to figure out why things were happening and I just got back to getting the baseball and throwing it.”

Before the game, Gibson said there wouldn’t be much importance put on how Collmenter went out and threw against Milwaukee.

“I’d like to see him throw the ball better,” Gibson said, “but if he doesn’t, it doesn’t change anything.”

Collmenter was asked if Gibson’s “things could change” comment affected him.

“No. I knew I had to take care of business,” he said. “I didn’t have the greatest spring. That’s on record, and you could look everything up. Going forward now, I can throw all that out the window.

“They don’t keep track of that now. Everybody starts with a clean slate and come Sunday, we’ll just make the charge for another good season for the team and everything that goes with that.”

At some point in the next few days, the Diamondbacks will sit down with shortstop Stephen Drew, discuss the progress he’s made on the right ankle he fractured last July, and then officially place him on the disabled list to start the season.

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Spring Training: Diamondbacks | Cactus League | Fans

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Just how long he will be sidelined is anyone’s guess. It could be two weeks or it might be four. It may be even longer.

The good news is, Drew is beginning to turn the corner in his ongoing rehab and the Diamondbacks are in good hands at shortstop until he returns — whenever that is.

That’s because they have two veterans on the roster in Willie Bloomquist and John McDonald who each offer at least part of what Drew brings to the lineup everyday when healthy.

Bloomquist, 34, made 59 appearances at short last season with a .979 fielding percentage and hit safely in 46 of his 57 starts. He had 20 stolen bases and is the likely candidate to bat leadoff when the Diamondbacks open the regular season Friday against the visiting San Francisco Giants.

He hasn’t been hitting well this spring, however, batting just .186 through 59 at-bats.

McDonald, 37, played 38 games at shortstop with a .986 fielding percentage following his trade to Arizona from Toronto. He’s best known for his defensive prowess, still able to make highlight-type plays deep in the hole despite his age.

Whenever Drew returns, Bloomquist said it will be like adding “a stud player” via free agency or a trade. It certainly will make the Diamondbacks better.

“There are a lot of teams out there that would love to have the depth we have at shortstop,” McDonald said Sunday before Arizona’s game against the Dodgers. “There’s no way you can look at that as a negative.

“We all do different things. Stephen, obviously, is a complete player. Willie hits at the top of our lineup. And I’m a little bit more on the defensive side of it. But there’s a lot of experience there, too, which helps with the type of team we have.”

McDonald, a career .238 hitter, is entering his first full season in the National League following stints with the Blue Jays, Indians and Tigers. He has been working closely every day this spring with Diamondbacks hitting coach Don Baylor on ways to be more productive at the plate.

“The main thing is they want me to help myself, they want me to get good pitches to hit,” said McDonald, who hit a solo home run Sunday, his first of the spring. “When you’re getting yourself out consistently, it’s a bad thing.

“I’m trying to be more patient now, be more selective. It’s a process and a different mind-set, but if you believe in it you’re going to have at least some degree of success.”

The Diamondbacks played without Drew for the final 10 weeks of the season but managed to have plenty of success in 2011. The platoon of Bloomquist and McDonald played a part in that and both players are eager for Arizona to repeat as NL West champions.

“Having been here and gone through it last year, we believe we’re going to get right back there and take another step,” McDonald said. “We lost that last game to Milwaukee (in the playoffs), but this time we want to be winning that last game.”

Drew, meanwhile, has made a tremendous amount of improvement, according to Gibson.

Though he hasn’t played in a single game this spring – and the Cactus League season officially ends for the Diamondbacks on Monday – Drew only appears to be limited when it comes to rounding the bases hard.

“Groundballs are really not an issue for him. He can hit fine. He’s been doing a lot more running,” Gibson said. “We just had a discussion the other day about how to get him to start running some light bases and some of those movements.

“He’s done everything else. He’s went in the hole (defensively). He’s went up the middle, reversed, and he’s done that jump throw. I watched him a couple days ago when he had to fully extend in the hole. He didn’t quite get the ball, but I see all that.”

At some point, Drew will be back. But until then, at least with Bloomquist and McDonald they won’t be short-handed at shortstop.

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.

A theory: For a reliever, the eighth inning is a tougher assignment than the ninth. Not only is there less pressure on the hitters in the eighth — they know the team will have another chance next inning — but there’s statistical evidence that a team’s better hitters come to bat less often in the ninth.

Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero subscribes to this theory. He doesn’t know about the stats, but he’s felt the pressure. And so you can imagine what he thinks of the work turned in last season by right-hander David Hernandez, the club’s primary setup man to closer J.J. Putz.

“He was phenomenal,” Montero said.

Setup men are like the offensive linemen of baseball. They seem to get noticed only when things go badly. And so the relative anonymity in which Hernandez existed during his season with the Diamondbacks is an indication of just how solid he was last year.

Eighth-inning guys don’t get saves like closers do, but they can blow saves, and Hernandez blew just three. He did not allow a run in 61 of 74 appearances.

He finished with a 3.38 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 691/3 innings, numbers that would have looked considerably better if not for three disastrous outings in which he gave up a combined 14 earned runs. Factor those out and Hernandez would have had a 1.57 ERA.

“He definitely has the mentality you need to pitch late in games,” Putz said. “He understands the importance of getting ahead and throwing strikes.”

A year ago at this time, Hernandez seemed almost disappointed to be cast as a reliever after spending most his career in the starting rotation. He has a different outlook this spring.

“I love it,” he said of pitching in relief. “It’s just a bigger adrenaline rush for me.

“I kind of just really embraced it. When you have success and see the results you get out of relief pitching, you think, ‘All right, this is my niche.’ I don’t really see myself going back to starting, nor do I want to go back to starting.”

Hernandez might already have received more attention in spring training than he did for most of last season. During a game last week, he drilled the Padres’ Will Venable in apparent retaliation for teammate Justin Upton getting hit by a pitch.

Of course, Hernandez denied it, saying he was just trying to go inside, but his teammates weren’t surprised. That he would stand up for Upton would seem to fit into his mentality on the mound.

“He doesn’t get intimidated at all,” Montero said. “He just goes after hitters. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t run away and start throwing off-speed pitches. He’s always challenging hitters and saying, ‘Try and hit it.’ … He’s not afraid of contact. That’s why he has success.”

Well, there’s also Hernandez’s overpowering stuff, which includes a fastball that last season averaged 94.6 mph (per FanGraphs) and a slider.

“He’s aggressive,” Montero said. “He throws strikes. His fastball, I don’t know what it is, but people have a hard time catching up with that fastball. I know it’s hard, but I think the key is that he’s a sneaky 97 (mph) so it looks even harder.”

His personality could also be described as sneaky. After coming to the Diamondbacks in a December 2010 trade, it took him some time to open up around his new teammates, but he seems more affable and comfortable this year.

“It’s always tough coming over, not knowing anybody,” he said. “You’ve got to not rub people the wrong way, and you want to get to know everybody. Now I feel like I’ll say whatever and people will know whether I’m joking or what. It’s easier to be outspoken when you’ve been around the guys for a year.”

Kirk Gibson was asked before Tuesday’s game what he was expecting to see out of right-hander Trevor Bauer, but the Diamondbacks manager shifted gears midway through his answer to talk about left-hander Pat Corbin.

“I know you guys aren’t as enamored of him,” Gibson said. “But I’m interested to see how he does, as well.”

Corbin has never been a media sensation, but with four shutout innings in relief on Tuesday, he further strengthened his case among the Diamondbacks’ stable of pitching prospects for being the most impressive in spring training.

In a roundabout way, Gibson named Corbin as the player who has most opened his eyes in camp, similar to the way first baseman Paul Goldschmidt put himself on the radar with a strong spring training a year ago.

“He’s been right up there with everybody,” Gibson said of Corbin, who has allowed just one run in 102/3 innings (0.84 ERA) in the Cactus League. “He’s thrown the ball really well.”

Corbin sat mostly between 90-92 mph with his fastball on Tuesday, touching 93. He also throws a slider and a change-up.

Corbin, who had a 4.21 ERA in Double-A Mobile last season, came to the Diamondbacks as part of the Dan Haren trade but always has been mentioned after Joe Saunders and Tyler Skaggs, other left-handers also in the deal. And he’s been under the radar again this spring, with the unique Bauer and the more overpowering Skaggs drawing more attention.

That said, he sounded pleased to hear that Gibson had been talking him up on Tuesday.

“That’s all you can do up here is go up and pitch well and let the guys up here who haven’t seen you pitch during the year just get a chance to look at you and evaluate you,” Corbin said. “It’s always good to make a good first impression.”

Barring any surprises, Corbin still is expected to open the year back in the minor leagues.

Kennedy’s day

Right-hander Ian Kennedy spent the day on the minor league side of Salt River Fields, pitching against the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A squad. He gave up one run on three hits in five innings, walking two and striking out five.

It was a way of keeping Kennedy away from the Giants’ everyday players, who faced the Diamondbacks in the main stadium. Kennedy is scheduled to start on Opening Day (April 6) against the Giants at Chase Field.

“I know when Gibby was deciding, it was just too close to the season to throw (against the Giants),” Kennedy said. “I know a lot of teams do this. It was one of those things.”

Kennedy said he made progress with his off-speed stuff, getting a better feel for his curveball and his change-up than he had in his previous start.

“I feel like it’s getting there, like I’m getting pretty close,” he said.

Short hops

Willie Bloomquist executed the little things on Tuesday, dropping down a bunt single that led to a run in the first inning and driving a ball to left field for a sacrifice fly in the second.

Bauer did a little of that, as well, dropping down a sacrifice bunt in the second inning in his first plate appearance of the Cactus League. “Yeah, I squared around, closed my eyes and hoped the ball would hit the bat,” he joked. “Given that I haven’t handled the bat since my freshman year of high school, really, I was pleased with it.”

A.J. Pollock made the most of his only at-bat, drilling a walk-off home run off LHP Wilmin Rodriguez in the bottom of the ninth.

“He’s had a good spring for us,” manager Kirk Gibson said. “We highly regard him. He’s played a lot. He’s a pretty complete ballplayer.”

Pollock is 9 for 26 (.346) with a homer, a double and five walks.

CF Gerardo Parra slammed a two-run homer off LHP Barry Zito in the first inning, his second homer of the Cactus League.

Trevor Bauer called it “probably the worst” outing he’s had in the Cactus League, but despite giving up six hits in three innings, he was able to pitch out of trouble three times and give up just two runs.

“Not really a whole lot to be displeased with, other than being behind in the count a lot, which I haven’t really done yet this spring,” he said.

Bauer said his mechanics were a little off.

“I was a little disconnected the entire outing,” he said.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) The Arizona Diamondbacks got a good look at three of their top prospects on Tuesday and they had to like what they saw.

Patrick Corbin pitched four scoreless innings and A.J. Pollock homered in the bottom of the ninth to give the Diamondbacks a 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Trevor Bauer, drafted No. 3 overall last year out of UCLA, got the start and struggled through three innings. Still, he had been holding opponents to a .208 batting average this spring coming in.

”I have had four outings now and this is probably the worst,” Bauer said. ”I think I did a pretty good job of disrupting their timing. There is not a whole lot to be displeased with other than being behind in the count.”

Gerardo Parra hit a two-run homer for the Diamondbacks off Barry Zito.

Zito threw 83 pitches in five innings, his longest outing of the spring. He allowed three runs and seven hits while walking four and striking out three.

”I felt better as I got going,” Zito said. ”My timing was off a little bit the first couple of innings. My command got a lot better the last two innings.”

Bauer allowed two runs and six hits while striking out two, but Corbin was particularly impressive. The 22-year-old lefty yielded only one hit while fanning six and walking two. He has a 0.84 ERA this spring.

With Josh Collmenter struggling this spring with a 14.14 ERA, Corbin could get a shot at the fifth spot in the rotation. He was acquired from the Angels in the July 2010 trade for All-Star pitcher Dan Haren.

”He threw great and has been throwing the ball better and better,” Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. ”Works very quickly, he is very aggressive, he pounds the zone and is very athletic. We like seeing all those things. We would like to see him build on what he has accomplished this year. We see him as a guy that is less talked about in having an impact on us but I think he could have a huge impact on our season.”

Pollock, a first-round draft pick in 2009, won it in the ninth with his homer off Wilmin Rodriguez. Sam Demel pitched a perfect inning for the victory.

Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford each had a hit and an RBI for the Giants.

NOTES: Diamondbacks ace Ian Kennedy allowed one run and three hits in a minor league game against the Giants. He walked two and struck out five. … Gibson has recently been giving some of his players time off this spring. ”They grind pretty hard and it gives them an opportunity to relax for a day and spend some time with their family,” he said. … The Giants have stolen a major league-high 26 bases this spring. Gregor Blanco swiped two bags in the game and leads the majors with nine steals.

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Joe Saunders was happy to trade getting knocked around a little over being hit with a line drive.

Five days after taking a hard shot off his left shin, Saunders gave up three runs and eight hits in three innings of the Diamondbacks’ 8-6 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.

”The only thing I was a little frustrated with was my fastball command,” Saunders said. ”I tried not to fall too far behind in counts. When I did, they knew a fastball was coming and they jumped all over it.”

Saunders lasted only two outs and ten pitches on Monday against Cleveland when he got hit. He initially looked to be in for another short outing against the Rangers, who led off the game with three straight hits to take a 2-0 lead after the first.

”I didn’t get knocked out of the game with a line drive, so that was positive,” he said.

Ian Kinsler doubled for the second time and scored on David Murphy’s second single of the game to make it 3-0 in the second.

”I threw some good ones (fastballs) but when I didn’t they hit them where we weren’t,” said Saunders, who has yielded six runs on 14 hits in 5 2-3 innings this spring.

Rangers starter Scott Feldman went 4 2-3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. He retired 11 of the first 12 hitters he faced before six of his final nine reached base.

Jason Kubel had a triple and a homer off Feldman, then added a second home run off Koji Uehara in the fifth and finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs.

”I did a good job of hanging some pitches for him,” Feldman said.

Kubel, who signed a two-year, $15-million deal with the Diamondbacks, entered the game with four hits in 25 at-bats.

”Clearly it’s been a slow start but the last five days or so it’s been coming around,” Kubel said. ”It’s just how things have gone. I’ve either hit the ball too high or too low and right at somebody. It’s nice to hit some balls hard and have them be hits.”

Kinsler, one of a handful of regulars who did not join the Rangers split squad for a two-game weekend series in Las Vegas, was 3 for 4 with the two doubles and a sixth-inning home run.

NOTES: Rangers C Mike Napoli, coming off a left groin strain, started at designated hitter for the second straight game and went 0 for 2 with a walk and an RBI. . RHP Sam Demel, who has nursed tightness in his right forearm for the past two weeks, threw a scoreless seventh in his first appearance since March 3. . There has not been a rainout in the Cactus League since 2010. Sunday’s weather forecast: 100 percent chance of rain overnight and a 80 chance in the afternoon.