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.

KANSAS CITY – As promised, General Manager Kevin Towers met with manager Kirk Gibson and other members of the organization well into the early morning hours upon their arrival here Thursday night, evaluating every detail about the franchise and the 25-man active roster.

“We finished up about 3:30 in the morning and the whole group stayed together right up until the end,” Towers said. “We met for probably four or five hours, just kind of taking a look at things after 40 games and what options are out there if wanted to tweak the club at all.”

For the time being, Towers said, the Diamondbacks plan to stand pat. The only roster move made Friday was activating center fielder Chris Young from the disabled list and optioning outfielder A.J. Pollock back to Triple-A Reno.

“Any moves we make will probably be internal moves,” Towers said. “We’re not looking outside the organization right now.”

One internal move everyone will be watching and waiting for is how long it takes the Diamondbacks to promote top pitching prospect Trevor Bauer to the majors. He made his Triple-A debut Friday night for Reno after tearing through Double-A hitters in the Southern League.

“He’s one step away now, so he’s pretty close considering he was at UCLA less than a year ago,” Towers said of Bauer, a Diamondbacks first-round pick in last year’s draft.

“The beauty here is we’ve got so much depth right now, it’s tough to find a spot. Once Huddy (Daniel Hudson) comes back and with the way Wade (Miley) has been throwing the ball and (Patrick) Corbin’s been good, there may not be a spot, at least at this point in time. But as we know in this game, there’s injuries and things that happen.”

Drew now in idle

Right-hander Hudson (shoulder) remains on schedule to make a rehab start for Reno on Monday, but shortstop Stephen Drew (ankle) may now have his Triple-A rehab appearance pushed back at least a day or two.

He was scheduled to play for Reno on Sunday, but was feeling sore a day after playing in another extended spring training game and now things are on hold.

Gibson said the soreness isn’t a setback, but rather just another bridge Drew needs to cross.

“He’s doing more than he ever has and virtually every step of the way when we’ve added to what he’s done, he gets sore and we let him regroup and give him more recovery time,” Gibson said. “The next time we put him out there, he recovers a lot quicker.”

Good experience

Pollock spent a month with the Diamondbacks and although he got off to a slow start, he eventually found his rhythm and did well when called upon to play.

“He’s got great work habits, he’s a good kid and he’s very dedicated,” Gibson said. “He’s very steady, very solid. He played well for us. It was a positive experience for him.”

Towers said Pollock was grateful for the opportunity and handled the news of his demotion well.

“He knows he can play at this level, which is good for him,” Towers said. ” … He knows what to expect next time he comes back up here, too.”

Gibby on Davidson

Gibson had an animated shouting match last year with umpire Bob Davidson, during which he was ejected. But Gibson said he now gets along well with the veteran ump, who was suspended for one game on Friday for his actions during an argument with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.

“We’ve been good since we had our disagreement,” Gibson said. “I can tell you he called a balk on Ian Kennedy this year and I called him on the phone and asked him to explain to me what happened. … I asked him to take a look at it, he did, and he called me back about a week later and said he made the improper call. He’s come a long way, but he’s still got a lot of fire in him.”

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.

Read More: Kyle Lohse (P – STL), Matt Holliday (LF – STL), Jason Kubel (LF – ARI), Miguel Montero (C – ARI), Lyle Overbay (1B – ARI), Aaron Hill (2B – ARI), Carlos Beltran (RF – STL), Rafael Furcal (SS – STL), Ryan Roberts (3B – ARI), Willie Bloomquist (SS – ARI), J.J. Putz (P – ARI), Craig Breslow (P – ARI), Brad Ziegler (P – ARI), Gerardo Parra (LF – ARI), Shane Robinson (CF – STL), Allen Craig (LF – STL), Tony Cruz (C – STL), Bryan Shaw (P – ARI), Wade Miley (P – ARI), Matt Carpenter (3B – STL), Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals

An off day might be just what the Arizona Diamondbacks need to regroup, after they were swept in a three-game series at Chase Field by the St. Louis Cardinals. The D-backs lost the series finale 7-2 Wednesday night and dropped their fifth straight game overall, falling to a lowly 6-10 at home.

Pinch hitter Matt Carpenter ripped a double past the diving Jason Kubel in left field in the top of the sixth with two out and two runners on, driving in both runners to break a 1-1 tie. The hit also chased starting pitcher Wade Miley, who got through 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs on 10 hits.

“Just trying to go down and away and he just did a good job of going with the pitch,” Miley said of the fateful hit by Carpenter.

Arizona couldn’t come all the way back, though the D-backs did score once in their half of the sixth. Miguel Montero singled and scored on Aaron Hill’s double with one out, but the Dbacks couldn’t get Hill in to score.

The Diamondbacks were swept at Chase Field for the first time since Aug. 17-19 of 2010 and have lost five straight for the second time this season already.

Three singles by Lyle Overbay, Ryan Roberts and Miley, who drove in Overbay from second base with his base hit, gave the D-backs their first lead in the series. Miley raised his batting average to .417 (5 of 12) giving him the lead in hits among NL pitchers this season.

In the top of the third, the Diamondbacks got some help from home plate umpire Laz Diaz, who called the Cardinals’ Rafael Furcal out at home plate trying to score from first on a double by Matt Holliday. Gerardo Parra threw to the cutoff man Willie Bloomquist, who fired home to Miguel Montero for the tag, though it looked like Furcal beat the throw and touched home plate just before the tag,

In any case, it was a great play all the way around for the D-backs to preserve their lead for the time being.

Arizona had a chance to go up by two, but Overbay was thrown out at home plate on a single by Roberts in the fourth. Shane Robinson made the peg from center field and Tony Cruz applied the tag to Overbay, who for some reason did not slide and went in standing.

“It’s a miscommunication,” manager Kirk Gibson said of Miley not motioning for Overbay to get down and slide.

“I got back there a little late and I went more verbal than motioning…It’s my fault,” Miley said. “I need to get down and let him know to get down and slide and what direction.”

The Cardinals tied it in the fifth on a single by pitcher Kyle Lohse, who somehow made it to third base on a single by Furcal. Lohse went in standing and grabbed the back of his leg, but walked off the discomfort and scored when Carlos Beltran reached on an error.

Beltran hit a hard ground ball to Roberts, and the bad hop struck Roberts under his chin. The Cardinals loaded the bases, but Miley got Allen Craig to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Lohse left after five innings, his hamstring perhaps giving him problems. Furcal finished 4-for-5 on the night and the Cardinals had 15 hits as a team.

The Diamondbacks did get some good work out of their bullpen, that is, until J.J. Putz came on in the top of the ninth. Three relievers — Bryan Shaw, Brad Ziegler and David Hernandez — held the Cardinals scoreless over 2 1/3 innings. But Putz, after retiring the first two batters he faced, gave up five straight hits, the third one a towering double off the center-field wall by Holliday to drive in two runs and the fourth a line drive home run by Craig.

Putz put his hands on his hips as he watched Craig circle the bases. Putz was lifted for Craig Breslow, unable to make it out of the ninth. He saw his ERA soar to 9.00 after allowing four runs on five hits in 2/3 of an inning.

Gibson said location was Putz’s problem, plus the Cardinals’ aggressive approach on offense.

“They just keep coming at you,” Gibson said. “If you don’t locate the ball they pound you. They scored 23 (actually 22 in the series) runs, we scored nine. They outhit us, they outpitched us, they out-defended us.”

Arizona (14-18) gets an off day at home, then welcomes in the San Francisco Giants for three games over the weekend.

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.

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.”

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?”

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.

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.

Third baseman Ryan Roberts was out of the Diamondbacks lineup for a third consecutive game with manager Kirk Gibson again opting for journeyman Cody Ransom instead.

But Gibson told reporters that ” ‘Ryno’ is still my third baseman,” saying he’s trying to get the emotional Roberts to relax.

“He cares so much, works so hard,” Gibson said. “It comes to a point where it’s counterproductive.”

Roberts came out of nowhere to stake claim to the everyday job last season, rating among the league’s more-productive third basemen with 19 home runs and a .341 on-base.

But he is off to a slow start this season, hitting .170 (9 for 53) and looking shaky defensively, particularly with his throws.

Gibson said he spoke with Roberts after Monday night’s game, urging him to relax and assuring him that by the end of the season he’ll have played a key role on the team.

“This is just today,” Gibson said. “It’s not about Ryno. It’s about the team. I think he understands that. He’s putting his work in. He’ll get back on track. I expect him to.”

Ransom, in his second season in the Diamondbacks organization, was brought up from Triple-A Reno last week, taking the place of the injured Geoff Blum.

After missing a game to pass kidney stones, Ransom made the most of his first two starts, collecting key hits in each game. He doubled and scored during a five-run second inning on Sunday and had a two-run double on Monday night.

Staff in flux

The Diamondbacks made a pair of roster moves on Tuesday, but uncertainty remains in the starting rotation after Gibson again would not commit to left-hander Wade Miley getting another start.

Gibson said “it’s possible” that Miley, who threw six scoreless innings on Monday night, would get another start.

“We haven’t made that decision yet,” he said. “It depends on what happens this week. … This isn’t the time to speculate. There’s a lot of things we’re kicking around.”

Reliever Joe Paterson, who had a 2.91 ERA last year as the team’s primary left-hander in the bullpen, was optioned to Triple-A Reno after giving up five runs without retiring a batter in the ninth inning on Monday night.

In six appearances, opposing hitters were 15 for 23 (.652) against him. Left-handed hitters were 5 for 10 with two walks.

“He wasn’t able to execute his pitches and didn’t have the life on his pitches that he had before,” Gibson said. “He’s going to work on it in Reno.”

In his place is Mike Zagurski, a left-hander who had a strong spring and pushed to make the Opening Day roster. He continued to pitch well in Reno, where he had a 2.00 ERA in nine innings.

The Diamondbacks acquired Zagurski last September in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies, who drafted him in the 12th round in 2005. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s the Phillies who are in town now.

“Baseball is a weird game, I guess,” Zagurski said. “They’re just like anybody else. I’ve got to try to get them out, and they’ve got to try to get a hit.”

The Diamondbacks also designated right-hander Jonathan Albaladejo for assignment and added right-hander Joe Martinez. Albaladejo threw an inning on Monday night, making him unavailable for a long appearance on Tuesday night.

“We needed length for (Tuesday),” Gibson said. “If we get in a situation where we have to take Josh out early, we would totally blow our whole bullpen up, and we want to stay away from that.”

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.”

SAN DIEGO – After a certain evening hour, balls hit at Petco Park rarely find the warning track, let alone the seats. There are even fewer that at the moment they are hit are surefire, no-doubters, balls for which outfielders know they need not even move.

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Chris Young hit one of those in the 11th inning on Tuesday night, a ball that, crushed though it was, didn’t clear the left-field fence by all that much. But it did, which was all Young and the Diamondbacks cared about as they came away with a 4-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

Their bullpen had a hiccup, their starting pitcher a bout with wildness and their offense went 15 batters between hits, but after closer J.J. Putz slammed the door in the ninth the Diamondbacks had managed to run their record to 4-0 for the first time in franchise history.

With a runner on first and no one out in the 11th, Young crushed a hanging slider from former Diamondbacks right-hander Micah Owings, who had plunked Gerardo Parra with a fastball to lead off the inning.

“He probably thought I was bunting so I figured I’d get a pretty good pitch to hit on the first pitch,” Young said. “We just took a chance.”

It was the second home run in four games for Young, who has carried over his hot hitting from spring training into the regular season, showing off a newer, more compact swing that he honed during the off-season.

But while teammate Miguel Montero said he looks “the best I’ve ever seen him,” Young wasn’t feeling so hot during the game. He said he felt out of rhythm in his first few at-bats, felt like he miss-hit pitches he should have driven.

He popped out in the fifth inning, and a half-inning later, he raced back into the clubhouse to bring up his at-bats on a clubhouse laptop. Sometimes, he says, those video runs can be fruitless. But every once in a while, he sees something he can apply immediately. This was one of those times.

“I was kind of dropping under the ball a little bit, popping it up a bit too much, and I tried to make an adjustment to stay on top of the ball and get a little more backspin,” he said. “I’m glad I was able to transfer it in the game.”

Lost in the extra-inning drama was the performance of right-hander Trevor Cahill.

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson wondered how Cahill, his newest starting pitcher, was going to react on Tuesday. First start of the season, new team, pitching near his hometown – a dangerous combination for someone who Gibson believed might be susceptible to getting too hyped up.

That’s exactly how he looked in the early innings, his lively sinking fastball missing the strike zone more often than it found it. But, Cahill said, that wasn’t really the way it went down.

“I just didn’t know where it was going,” he said.

Cahill walked five of the first nine batters he faced, but he issued just one more base on balls the rest of the way.

“I made some good pitches, but I made a lot of bad pitches,” Cahill said. “I made some good pitches where I had to. After a while I guess I settled in a little bit and was able to throw strikes.”

Though Cahill couldn’t control it, there was no denying his pure stuff. His two-seam fastball had tremendous life, inducing seven ground-ball outs to one fly out. It was moving so much that opposing hitters sometimes gave up on it.

In the second, Cahill threw a 2-2 fastball that the Padres’ Cameron Maybin thought was going to end up off the plate. Instead, it darted back across the outside corner for a called third strike.

The Diamondbacks staked Cahill to an early lead, thanks in part to a fluky moment with Miguel Montero at the plate in the first inning. Padres right-hander Edinson Volquez shattered Montero’s bat on an off-speed pitch, the barrel and shards flying toward the mound, the ball rolling toward first base.

Volquez flinched momentarily, unsure if he should duck for safety or cover first base. By the time he realized he was in the clear, Montero was too far down the line. That put men on first and second for Paul Goldschmidt, who shot a double into the left-center field gap to score both runners.

The Padres picked up a run on an RBI ground out by Jesus Guzman in the fifth. The score remained 2-1 until the Padres tied it in the seventh on a Jason Bartlett single off Diamondbacks reliever Brad Ziegler.
The Diamondbacks’ offense, meanwhile, was held in check by Volquez and four relievers. That is, until the 11th inning, when Young came through again.

“His discipline at the plate looks better,” Montero said. “He’s swinging at good pitches. When you’re swinging at good pitches, good things can happen. He’s a strong guy. He can hit it out of any park. He’s one of those skinny-muscle guys.”

Rewind

Ziegler shaky: Manager Kirk Gibson has hinted that reliever Bryan Shaw would be his primary seventh-inning man, but on Tuesday night, he went to Brad Ziegler to protect a one-run lead against the Padres.

Coming off a shaky spring training, Ziegler gave up the lead in almost no time. Orlando Hudson hammered a fastball into left-center field, a ball center fielder Chris Young couldn’t cut off, and Hudson raced to third with a leadoff triple. Jason Bartlett followed by lining a single into center to tie the score.

Upton plays: Right fielder Justin Upton was out of the starting lineup because of a thumb injury, but it didn’t prevent Gibson from using him late in the game.

After Young’s two-run home run gave the Diamondbacks a 4-2 lead in the top of the 11th inning, Upton entered the game in right field as part of a double switch.

Streak continues: Shortstop Willie Bloomquist singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, dating to the end of last year’s regular season.