After being humiliated in their series opener, the Arizona Diamondbacks got a little payback their last time out as their offense finally came to life.
The Diamondbacks hope to carry some momentum from their latest victory into Thursday's finale of a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics.Arizona (38-34) leads the NL West by 4 1/2 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers, but picked up a needed victory in its latest game.
The Diamondbacks defeated Oakland 11-1 on Wednesday to snap a three-game losing skid, which included a 15-1 drubbing in Tuesday's series opener. Arizona, which has won just 10 of its last 28 games, had been outscored 35-7 during its skid.
"Kind of flipped from (Tuesday's) game," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "Hopefully, (Wednesday's) something to build on."
Chris Young hit his 13th homer of the year Wednesday, while Stephen Drew hit his 10th. Drew, Orlando Hudson and Chad Tracy each had three hits for Arizona, which matched a season high with 15.
"We've been waiting to bust out for a while," said Wednesday's winning pitcher Dan Haren, who defeated his former team.
Doug Davis (2-3, 3.99 ERA) takes the ball for the Diamondbacks Thursday, hoping after six years he can still dominate the A's (39-32).
Davis spent most of his first four full major league seasons in the AL, and never had much trouble against Oakland. He has posted a 2.02 ERA in winning his last five starts over the A's, and is 6-1 with a 3.19 ERA in eight games - six starts - lifetime against them. In his last start against Oakland on April 11, 2002, Davis allowed two hits, one walk and struck out six in a complete-game 7-0 win for Texas.
On Friday, Davis allowed six hits, four walks and struck out seven in seven innings of a 1-0, 10-inning win over Kansas City.
The left-hander has alternated good and bad outings since coming off the disabled list May 22 after thyroid surgery. He is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his three solid outings, but is 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA in his two poor starts.
Oakland had a four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday. The A's managed just four hits after pounding out 15 - including a season-high six home runs - on Tuesday.
Oakland second baseman Mark Ellis was hitless in three at-bats Wednesday after going 16-for-35 (.457) with three home runs, five doubles and 10 RBIs during a season-high eight-game winning streak.
Rookie Greg Smith (4-5, 3.62) makes his first career start against the team that drafted him when he takes the ball Thursday.
The Diamondbacks selected Smith in the sixth round of the 2005 draft, but he never made it to the majors with Arizona. The Diamondbacks traded Smith to Oakland in December as part of the trade that sent Haren to Arizona.
On Friday, Smith gave up one run, three hits and issued a career-high six walks in five innings of a 5-1 victory over San Francisco. The left-hander had been tagged for 12 runs in 11 1-3 innings in his first two June starts.
