PHOENIX -- Chase Anderson caught up to his first victory of the season Wednesday with the best performance of his career.
Anderson pitched into the ninth inning for the first time in his two seasons, helped by 11 hits and six (by scoring rule, it should be seven) stolen bases in the Diamondbacks' 6-1 victory over Miami at Marlins Park.
The D-backs won the first three games of a four-game series that concludes with a 9 a.m. Arizona time start Thursday, keeping Miami general manager-turned-manager Dan Jennings winless.
Anderson (1-1) gave up two hits and took a shutout into the ninth but gave up two singles around a hit batter before he yielded to Brad Ziegler, who got the ground ball he always seems to get, this time from Giancarlo Stanton, for a double play for the Marlins' only run.
"You get into the ninth inning, you want to finish the game," Anderson told FOX Sports Arizona's Jody Jackson. "That should be our benchmark."
The D-backs scored three runs in the first two innings and had a 4-0 lead after five. They had scored 10 runs while Anderson was on the mound in his first seven starts, and in one of those the bullpen failed to hold a 2-1 lead.
Anderson's ERA dropped to 2.45, 10th in the NL, and he had good success with the two-seam fastball that he worked hard to get a feel for during spring training. He got 14 groundball outs and two strikeouts, and never was in danger.
The Marlins did not get their first hit until Martin Prado singled to left field to open the fifth, and thanks to a double play Anderson faced only two batters more than the minimum through eight innings.
Anderson's career high entering the game was seven innings, but he was there by 81 pitches and after a seven-pitch eighth manager Chip Hale sent him back out for the ninth.
"Chase did a wonderful job tonight," Hale told Jackson. "Mixed his pitches. I thought early in the game his fastball was electric. He was feeling it. Once we got a couple of runs, he wasn't going to give it up."
Anderson continued a trend started by Ruddy De La Rosa and Jeremy Hellickson, who made quality starts and gave up only two runs apiece in the first two games of the series, De La Rosa going nine innings in a 3-2, 13-inning victory Monday. The D-backs starters have given up 19 base runners in 23 innings in the first three games of the series.
"I saw Rubby pitch that game and 'Helly' pitched good yesterday," Anderson said. "I just wanted to do my job and just pass the torch. As a starting staff if you go deep in games, you give your team a good chance to win games. We're starting to do that, and we take a lot of pride in doing that, for sure."
A.J. Pollock stole second, third and home and the D-backs were credited with six stolen bases, one short of their franchise record set when Buck Showalter ran all over the Mets and catcher Mike Piazza on May 19, 2000, at Shea Stadium.
Aaron Hill, Nick Ahmed and Tuffy Gosewisch also had stolen bases, and it was clear the D-backs were running on Marlins right-handers David Phelps and Carter Capps. Hill stole second base without a throw in the second. Ahmed stole third. Capps jumps when he delivers the ball, and the D-backs stole three bases in his two innings.
"Dave McKay is really good at looking at stuff we can possibly exploit," Hale said of his first base/base running coach. "Guys just got good jumps. Stealing third, those were just good jumps. We did a good job. We put the pressure on them."
Pollock was credited with a steal of home when he broke for the plate from third after David Peralta was picked off first base and caught in a rundown. When first baseman Michael Morse threw to shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, Pollock took off and made it easily. Pollock's three steals were one short of the team record set by Tony Womack in 2000 and tied by Mark Reynolds in 2009.
Rule 10.08(c) seems to indicate that Peralta also should be given a stolen base, but the intial ruling was he Peralta advanced on a fielder's choice.
"We want to put the pedal to metal," Anderson said. "We just want to win games."
The D-backs scored three of their six runs without a hit. Pollock and Ahmed scored on infield outs, and Pollock also scored when he stole home.
1.03 -- Anderson's ERA in his last four starts.
* Ahmed has two-hit games in three of his last seven, during which is 9-for-21 with five RBI. Ahmed, who caught the Miami defense off guard when his two-out bunt single drove in run Tuesday, grounded a double inside third base when the Marlins played the infield in on Wednesday.
* Yasmany Tomas looks like he has been here for years. Not only did he have his fifth straight multiple-hit game with a pair of infield singles, he also made a nifty bare hand grab and throw to retire Dee Gordon on a bunt leading off the last of the first inning.
* Tony La Russa discussed right-hander Enrique Burgos on his morning radio show on Arizona Sports (98.7 FM) after Burgos' first two career saves Monday and Tuesday. "I think he has a wonderful future," La Russa said. "Those wins are precious. He's still developing his command. He has explosive stuff. One of the things you need to see is composure under fire, and he has been remarkable not being flustered. He still has improving to do, but his future is very bright. We have a couple of guys there who are potentially part of our 'pen who are going to be exciting for our fans over the years. Enrique has definitely distinguished himself with the way he has kept his cool and got us into the clubhouse with wins."
* Polar opposites Dee Gordon and Paul Goldschmidt entered Wednesday's game among the top six in the major leagues in WAR (wins above replacement player) despite their different games. Gordon, who leads off for the Marlins man and was second in the NL with 12 stolen bases, was third with a 2.7 WAR, according to Baseball Reference. Goldschmidt, tied for fourth in the NL with 10 homers, was tied for sixth with a 2.2. WAR.
The D-backs are 9-9 on the road after taking the first three games in Miami, and only St. Louis (12-8) and Washington (12-11) are better. San Francisco also is 9-9.
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