Major League Baseball

Diamondbacks 8, Marlins 4

Published Apr. 29, 2012 10:58 p.m. ET

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Watching teammate Wade Miley pitch, Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder Jason Kubel enjoyed the role of spectator.

''It was awesome,'' Kubel said. ''He was cruising along, and it was a lot of fun to watch.''

Miley held the Miami Marlins hitless until the sixth inning Sunday, and Kubel drove in three runs to lead Arizona to an 8-4 victory.

Miley (3-0) gave up one hit and an unearned run in 6 1-3 innings to lower his ERA to 1.29.

''Everything was working out for me today,'' the left-hander said. ''Any time you go out and establish the strike zone, you are going to have success. There's nothing like working fast and being able to throw strikes.''

The retractable roof over the Marlins' new ballpark averted a rainout, because showers fell all day. But even inside, it was a gloomy afternoon for the home team, and boos rained down from the crowd of 34,918 during Arizona's five-run sixth inning.

The Marlins trailed 8-0 before collecting their first hit, a double by John Buck. Miami has lost seven of its past eight games and is last in the NL East.

''I'm concerned because it's not fun,'' manager Ozzie Guillen said. ''It's very hard to have fun when you're not playing well. We cannot be worse than this. Obviously we're going to play better. It seems like right now we're not having fun at all.''

The Diamondbacks, by contrast, had plenty to smile about. They bounced back after blowing a late 2-0 lead Saturday to lose in the ninth inning.

''You can't get into pity parties,'' manager Kirk Gibson said. ''These guys did a great job of that today.''

Miley singled and scored the game's first run, while Gerardo Parra singled twice, walked twice, swiped a bag, scored and drove in a run. Teammate Aaron Hill had two hits and has reached base in 17 consecutive games.

Arizona came into the game batting .204 with runners in scoring position but went 6 for 16 in those situations.

''We kind of stayed on the ball,'' Gibson said. ''We weren't pulling off the ball, and we made good use of our opportunities with runners in scoring position.''

Miami ace Josh Johnson (0-3) had another poor outing. He struck out eight but allowed 10 hits and five runs in 5 1-3 innings, and opponents are batting .350 against the 2010 NL ERA leader.

''I threw some good pitches. I was just inconsistent,'' he said. ''You've got to find a way to keep it together and keep pushing.''

Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer, his first this season, in the Miami ninth. He also drove in a run with a groundout.

Miley retired the first 11 batters before Hanley Ramirez reached when his grounder was mishandled by third baseman Cody Ransom. Buck's double prompted a standing ovation from the crowd, but Miley retired the next three batters.

The lefty departed after the Diamondbacks committed two errors in the seventh. He struck out six and walked two.

''Every time he throws, he's really nasty,'' Kubel said.

Kubel had three hits, including a two-run double, and contributed two key defensive plays in the fifth inning when Arizona's lead was only 3-0.

Stanton sent Kubel to the base of the left-field fence to catch a fly. Kubel then made a running grab of a fly by Gaby Sanchez, and Omar Infante - running from first base because he thought the ball was going to drop - was doubled off to end the inning.

''I just came up throwing,'' Kubel said. ''I wanted to get it in hard and get it in quick and make something happen.''

Kubel leads all major league outfielders with six assists.

Miami's slumping 1-2-3 hitters - Emilio Bonifacio, Jose Reyes and Ramirez - failed to get the ball out of the infield in 10 at-bats. The Marlins' batting average against left-handers fell to .169.

''It's hard when the team is going this way,'' Bonifacio said. ''But we don't give up.''

The Diamondbacks took a 1-0 lead in the third on consecutive singles by Miley, Willie Bloomquist and Parra. They added two runs in the fifth on a walk and consecutive singles by Justin Upton, Kubel and Miguel Montero.

Bloomquist's RBI single in the sixth chased Johnson from the game. Two-out, two-run doubles by Kubel and Ransom capped a five-run inning and made it 8-0. The Diamondbacks had a 12-0 advantage in hits at that point.

NOTES: After the game, the Marlins optioned OF Chris Coghlan and LHP Mike Dunn to Triple-A New Orleans. They recalled OF Bryan Petersen and LHP Dan Jennings. ... The Diamondbacks committed three errors after totaling only 11 - second-fewest in the NL - in their first 21 games. ... NL newcomer Mark Buehrle pitches against the Diamondbacks for the first time Monday. They're the only NL West team he has never faced. ... Bloomquist has a .462 average (18 for 39) against Buehrle.

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