Whether the Arizona Diamondbacks can come home Tuesday with a winning record on their latest road trip won't be determined until after tonight's game against the Florida Marlins in South Beach.
But the team was able to take two of three against the Fish over the weekend. Arizona lost Friday night, 6-4, but managed to score 9-5 and 5-1 wins on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Joe Saunders struggled again while Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson kept their good seasons rolling and Justin Upton added to his league-leading error total for right fielders.
Saunders broke his personal three-game winning streak Friday night, reverting to early-season form in giving up 10 hits through five innings with five runs against the Fish.
Esmerling Vasquez gave up the other run for the Diamondbacks in that loss.
Anibal Sanchez threw 6.2 innings, struck out eight, but faltered late. Sanchez gave up all three of his runs during the seventh, including a two-run homer to Miguel Montero. Stephen Drew chipped in the other RBI against Sanchez, driving in Upton.
Sanchez was pulled with two outs for reliever Mike Dunn, who gave up a home run of his own to Xavier Nady.
Kennedy was solid on the mound Saturday, except the hits he did allow were all hit hard and went for extra-bases. He gave up a homerun to Chris Coghlan in the first, a run-scoring triple to Logan Morrison in the third, a two-run homer to Gaby Sánchez, and a follow-up solo shot to Mike Stanton, all in the same inning.
He was lucky to start opposite Javier Vázquez, who gave up seven runs in 3.2 innings before the Marlins yanked him. Vázquez has, in recent years, gone from one of the better most reliable pitchers in the game to one of the very worst.
Roberts and Drew took him deep. Kelly Johnson, Upton, and Gerard Parra all added RBI.
Daniel Hudson could have had a much worse game than he did Sunday, as he kept allowing Marlins baserunners.
Yet he managed to keep the Fish from scoring more than one run.
He went six innings, seven K, three walks, and allowed eight hits, a tough showing he survived with considerable help from the Marlins, who stranded 13 runners. According to Sports Illustrated, Florida's team has stranded 98 runners in their past 11 games, batting .149 (14-for-94) with runners in scoring position during that span.
Roberts homered in the third for the Diamondbacks while Stephen Drew doubled twice, knocking in two. Nady and Parra added runs.
Justin Upton made another error during Sunday's on a fairly simple line drive, raising his total to 7, which leads right fielders.
Tonight's matchup pits Zach Duke against Ricky Nolasco, a winnable game for the Diamondbacks, who are a game behind the San Francisco Giants for first.
