PHOENIX (AP) - Nick Ahmed, Chris Owings and John Ryan Murphy each homered as Arizona’s offense – slumbering for nearly all of May – came alive for a 12-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, just the Diamondbacks‘ third win in their last 18 games.
Ahmed and Owings each had a three-run home run in the opener of a six-game homestand after Arizona staggered back from a 1-8 road trip. Murphy added a solo shot.
Ahmed and Murphy homered off Homer Bailey (1-7), who allowed eight runs, six earned, on six hits in four innings. The Reds are 1-11 in games Bailey has started.
Matt Koch (3-3) went five innings, giving up five runs on 11 hits for Arizona. Eugenio Suarez had four hits for the Reds, including an RBI double.
The Diamondbacks, in their highest-scoring game of the season, were aided by three Cincinnati errors.
The biggest was a miscue by shortstop Jose Peraza on a made-to-order inning-ending double play. That cleared the way for Arizona’s four-run second inning.
Daniel Descalso led off the second with a triple to the right field gap before Murphy bounced out to third. Owings walked and Socrates Britobounced one to Peraza, who was standing a couple of steps from second base. But the ball glanced off the glove and then the side of Peraza’s head, allowing Descalso to score and tie it 1-1. The next batter, Ahmed, homered on an 0-2 pitch into the left field seats to make it 4-1.
The four runs were the most in an inning for the Diamondbacks since they got five in the third against the Phillies on April 26.
Murphy’s leadoff homer made it 5-1 in the fourth, and Owings reached on third baseman Suarez’s fielding error. Brito singled and Ahmed hit a hard grounder to third. Suarez threw to second for the force as Owings raced for home and scored ahead second baseman Scooter Gennett’s errant throw.
Cincinnati rallied to make it 6-5 with three runs in the fifth. Adam Duvall’s three-run double cut the lead to 6-5. The Reds sent the tying run home from second when Bailey grounded the ball off the third-baseman’s glove into short left field, but shortstop Ahmed threw Duvall out at the plate to end inning.
Owings had four hits in his previous 50 at-bats when he went deep off reliever Jackson Stephens in the fifth to boost the lead to 9-5.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: Interim manager Jim Riggleman said LHP Raisel Iglesias (biceps) and RHP Austin Brice (mid-back) may come off the 10-day disabled list Wednesday.
Diamondbacks: RHP Shelby Miller (Tommy John surgery) is to make his first rehab start Tuesday night for Class A Visalia. He will pitch four or five innings and throw 70-75 pitches.
UP NEXT
The Reds send RH Luis Castillo (4-4, 5.34 ERA) to the mound and the Diamondbacks counter with RH Zack Godley (4-4, 4.53) in the second game of the series Tuesday night.
