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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Diamondbacks rewind

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

View from the press box

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

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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Follow the game and join the game chat below.

The Reno Aces will assemble the greatest talent in their brief history this weekend.

And the happiest group of people to hear that reside mostly in and around Phoenix.

Help is on the way for the Arizona Diamondbacks, the 2011 NL West champions who began play Thursday at 16-22 and 8.5 games behind the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. That doesn’t seem too bad until you realize that at that pace they’d finish 38 games behind L.A.

The Diamondbacks have had their share of injuries, but two of their All-Stars — outfielder Chris Young and shortstop Stephen Drew — are just days away from rejoining the parent club.

Young, sidelined since suffering a shoulder contusion when he slammed into the wall on April 17, made his first start with the Aces, Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate, on Thursday after playing in three games for Advanced-A Visalia. At Visalia, he went 4-for-13 and on Wednesday hit a grand slam.

Drew, out 10 months with an ankle injury suffered when he slid into home, is expected to arrive in Reno on Saturday night and play on Sunday.

Pitcher Trevor Bauer, called up from Double-A Mobile, also joined the Aces on Thursday. MLB.com rated Bauer the eighth-best prospect in all of baseball. Bauer, a hard-throwing right-hander who helped lead UCLA to the College World Series championship game two years ago, will get the start Friday night. That is, if he can keep track of his schedule.

“Right now I’m just so rattled about where I’m supposed to be and when I’m supposed to be there,” Bauer said. “I’m just trying not to mess up missing a meeting or (battling practice).”

Maybe he should grab a hold of Young’s shirttail. The veteran, who was sent down to Reno in 2009 and then became an All-Star in 2010, knows his way around a diamond.

And given where he was when he injured his shoulder and where the Diamondbacks are now, Young said he’s more than a little eager to get back. Young was hitting .410 on April 17, and despite missing 26 of the Diamondbacks’ 37 games, he still leads the team in home runs with five (tied with Aaron Hill).

“Extremely. Extremely,” Young said before the Aces lost, 16-11, to the Oklahoma City RedHawks on Thursday. “Not one player can make a team, but any time a team is struggling you want to be out there and do whatever you can to help the cause.”

Before they head off to Phoenix, though — and Young could possibly play just one or two games in Reno — Aces fans will have their version of a major league experience for as little as $7.

“We’ll have a plethora of talent,” said Brett Butler, Aces manager since the team moved here in 2009. “… When you have guys like Young and Drew and Bauer here and some of these other guys that have done a great job, guys like (first baseman Randy) Ruiz and (third baseman Josh) Bell, you’re going to have pretty good talent.”

It’s still early in the major league season, early enough that the addition of players the caliber of Young and Drew could easily give the Diamondbacks the kind of boost they need to make another playoff run.

“When you’ve got a guy hitting .400 at the beginning of the season and you lose him and you’ve got an All-Star at shortstop who for the most part is hitting (third through fifth in the lineup) and has led off, that hurts,” Butler said. “Hopefully, when they get back, they’ll fit right in.”

Editor’s note: Young could be activated by the Diamondbacks on Friday after taking two at-bats for the Aces in Thursday’s loss.

Marc Krauss: The Diamondbacks have several good bounce-back stories in the minor leagues this year, from shortstop Chris Owings, who after a down year is raking in High-A Visalia, to right-hander Chase Anderson, who is pitching well after missing most of last season to injury.

Here’s another candidate to consider: Double-A Mobile outfielder Marc Krauss.

Considered a bat-only prospect out of the draft three years ago, Krauss hit well his first two years in the minors before hitting a speed bump last year in Mobile.

His average slipped to .242, his slugging to .439. For a guy not considered a standout defensively, those numbers weren’t going to cut it.

But Krauss showed up at spring training in good physical condition and, after being sent back to Mobile, has started his season on a good note. In 40 games, he has a .286 average, .409 on-base and .534 slugging. He has 11 doubles, two triples and six homers.

“He prepared really well in the off-season,” Diamondbacks farm director Mike Bell said. “He looked good. You could tell he spent a little extra time preparing his body for spring training.”

Bell says Krauss has always moved well in the outfield, getting good jumps and making the plays he should make. But this year he thinks Krauss is moving better, looking a little more athletic.

But it’s his bat that will determine Krauss’ future.

“He’s confident,” Bell said. “He only had 65 RBIs last year and has 26 already. I think there’s more in there, too. I think he can be a .300 hitter in the minor leagues.”

Around the farm: OF Adam Eaton refuses to slow down at the plate. He’s hitting .405 in his past 10 games, raising his average to .391 in 115 at-bats for Reno. He has a .979 OPS. … Double-A Mobile 3B Matt Davidson had another very good week, hitting four homers in his past five games. He has nine this season and sports an OPS of 1.021. … High-A Visalia 2B Michael Freeman went 7 for 8 on Tuesday night in the Rawhide’s wild 26-11 victory over High Desert. All of Freeman’s hits were singles. Visalia had 31 hits, two shy of the California League record. … In 12 relief appearances, Low-A South Bend RHP D.J. Johnson has a 2.25 ERA with five walks and 23 strikeouts in 16 innings.

DENVER – The Diamondbacks will play their 40th game Friday night, meaning they’re just about a quarter of the way through the season. It’s still early — when you need triple digits to count the number of remaining games, the phrase still applies — but last season’s epic playoff races serve as reminders that every game counts, whether it’s May or late September.

With that in mind, let’s review what’s happened so far, with an eye on what needs to occur for the Diamondbacks to turn things around.

1. Injuries: The Diamondbacks expected to open the season without shortstop Stephen Drew, without whom they were able to win the division last year, but they weren’t expecting to lose their center fielder, Chris Young, or their No. 2 starter, Daniel Hudson.

With the exception of Drew, the Diamondbacks were able to stay healthy last season while their top rivals in the National League West suffered key injuries. The Diamondbacks don’t have the kind of depth — at least not among position players — to where they can suffer too many losses.

The good news is, Young, Hudson and Drew, in that order, appear to be nearing returns. Barring setbacks, they all could be back with the team by mid-June.

2. Slow starters: Last year, the Diamondbacks had a combination of guys who had career years and guys who came out of nowhere to be surprise contributors. Most of them seem to have fallen off so far this season.

Right-hander Josh Collmenter struggled in four starts before getting shifted to the bullpen. Third baseman Ryan Roberts is hitting close to .200. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt has only two home runs.

And then there’s right fielder Justin Upton, who last season put together the kind of year many had predicted for him. But through the first month and a half, Upton has struggled, collecting just 12 RBIs through 39 games.

Perhaps it’s because of the jammed thumb he suffered during the first series of the year. Or perhaps it’s a matter of him just not feeling right at the plate.

Whatever the reason, the Diamondbacks probably won’t contend without more production from Upton.

3. Clutch hits: Numbers guys will tell you that hitting with runners in scoring position might not be the skill that some think it is. There’s little evidence to suggest it’s repeatable from year to year and might instead be a matter of good and bad luck in small sample sizes.

Whatever the case may be, the Diamondbacks haven’t been good in those situations, and it’s been costing them games.

Entering Thursday, the Diamondbacks were hitting just .229 with runners in scoring position, with Upton, who was expected to be their main run producer, going just 3 for 27 (.111).

In the big picture, the team numbers aren’t that bad. The .229 average ranks ninth in the league. But given the way the Diamondbacks have played in close games, the lack of production has felt crippling.

4. Close and late: That brings us another area in which the Diamondbacks thrived last season but have fallen off this year: winning close games. Last year, they lost just four games in which they led after seven innings. They already have lost four of those games this year.

Tied into that is an inability to win one-run games. After going 28-16 last season, they are 4-10 in one-run games this year. One-run games are generally considered a byproduct of luck. Baseball folks like to say that luck balances out. But the luck didn’t balance out for the Diamondbacks last season, so who’s to say it will this year?

5. Pitching: Perhaps most surprising, the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff hasn’t been very reliable.

Their rotation entered Thursday fourth from the bottom of the league with a 4.34 ERA. Granted, those numbers are mostly inflated by their fifth starters’ struggles — Collmenter (9.82 ERA as a starter) and rookie Pat Corbin (5.73) haven’t been reliable — but ace Ian Kennedy’s ERA is about a run higher than it was last season.

The bullpen hasn’t been as dependable, either. A unit that last season blew 13 saves, tied for the second-fewest in the league, already has blown five.

The Diamondbacks entered Thursday at 16-22, the same record they had after 38 games last season. No one thought they were bound for an NL West title, but that’s what happened, partly because they remade roughly a third of their roster.

If the Diamondbacks’ current players can’t sort out the problems they’ve encountered through the first six weeks, the club may have no other choice but to reshuffle the roster again.

Up next: Kansas City Royals

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

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 – Top prospect Trevor Bauer was promoted from Double-A Mobile to Triple-A Reno, where he will make his first start Friday night against Oklahoma City.

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Catching up with Diamondbacks prospect Trevor Bauer

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Bauer had been dominating Southern League hitters. Through eight starts, he had a 1.68 ERA in 48 1/3 innings with 60 strikeouts.

“I wouldn’t say he completely overmatched Double-A,” Towers said. “But if you look at his numbers, we wanted to put him in an environment to where he was probably facing a little better competition, a little bit more of a veteran hitter.”

The one blemish to Bauer’s stat line is that he’s walked 26. Towers sounded interested in seeing if he can improve that against more experienced hitters.

“You’re going to have hitters who have better plate discipline,” he said. “Hopefully that’s going to help to bring his walk rate down.”

DENVER – When times are tough, the Diamondbacks coaching staff works harder. Not just by watching video and going through their normal game preparations, but in their group workouts that take place before even the players arrive to the ballpark.

“We’ll run the (stadium) stairs, and then we’ll head out to the parking lot (and run more),” manager Kirk Gibson said.

But Gibson said he doesn’t want his players to do what the coaches do.

“Sometimes when things aren’t going well, you overdo it,” Gibson said. “So we’re trying to do less of that.”

Clearly, the Diamondbacks are trying everything. During this road trip, they’ve been getting their work in, but they’ve been doing so in less time. Hitters are grouped together during batting practice, and each group normally hits for about 15 minutes. The past few days, it’s been cut to 10 minutes.

“Way less swings and less time to get what you want to get done,” he said.

Cranking it up

Pitch-f/x data had right-hander J.J. Putz’s fastball mostly in the 94-95 mph range during a scoreless ninth inning on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, something that Gibson attributed to a mechanical adjustment Putz worked on with pitching coach Charles Nagy.

“The way his load is,” Gibson said, “he was getting too far forward. (Pitchers go) back before they go forward. He just wasn’t getting back. Charlie talked to him about it. I think he looked at a ton of video over the last week to 10 days. They talked about it and put some time in in the bullpen.”

Putz had been averaging 91.8 mph on his fastball.

“You could just tell the ball was coming out of his hand good,” Gibson said. “It’s as much the velocity as the life the pitches have, the finish they have.”

Hudson update

Right-hander Daniel Hudson, out with a shoulder injury, returned to game action Wednesday, throwing 21/3 innings in an extended spring-training game against Oakland A’s minor-leaguers.

Hudson gave up two runs on two hits and two walks, striking out three while throwing 54 pitches (32 strikes).

Hudson is scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Reno on Monday against New Orleans. Assuming all goes well, his next start should be for the Diamondbacks.

Gibson said it could either come May 26 or 27 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Chase Field.

Short hops

Gibson said there have been no discussions yet about adding a hitter strictly for the purpose of using him as a designated hitter this weekend in Kansas City. The Diamondbacks did that last season with slugger Wily Mo Pena, who wound up winning a game with a home run in Detroit. However, the Diamondbacks don’t play consecutive road series in interleague play until next month.

Center fielder Chris Young went 1 for 4 with a grand slam for High-A Visalia, making him 4 for 13 (.308) with three doubles and a homer in three games. He is scheduled to report to Triple-A Reno.

Shortstop Stephen Drew is scheduled to play in extended spring training Thursday before reporting to Reno for a game Sunday.

Triple-A Reno outfielder David Winfree was outrighted off the 40-man roster. The roster is now at 39.

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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Photos from the game | Box | Twitter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

View from the press box

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

Rewind

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They didn’t play particularly well in this one.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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