D-backs power up to claim series win at home

PHOENIX -- For the first time in 2014, an opposing team left Chase Field with a series loss.

The D-backs clinched their first home series win of the season with a 5-3 victory over the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon at Chase Field.

"We got into this series and kind of got a little momentum last night. It was good for us," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. "The thing about last night's game, unless you play good tonight, it doesn't really mean anything."

D-backs hitters picked up where they left off after scoring 18 runs Saturday night, pounding out 11 hits against the Dodgers, including 10 off losing pitcher Dan Haren (5-2).

The Dodgers jumped out to an early lead on a Hanley Ramirez home run, but the D-backs came right back to score in the second inning, helped along by Dodgers mistakes.

Left fielder Cody Ross hit a line drive to right field that Yasiel Puig misread and couldn't corral. Puig's miscue was ruled a hit, but two batters later Ramirez committed a throwing error trying to finish off a double play, allowing Ross to score.

The Dodgers were persistent, however, and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez launched a two-run homer to put them back in the lead.

After the homer to Gonzalez, D-backs starting pitcher Josh Collmenter (2-2) settled down and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

"Other than the two balls they hit out, I felt really good," Collmenter said. "I was down in the zone, and that's something that I've been really focusing in on. My fastball plays a lot better when it's down in the zone. ... So the big emphasis was just keeping things down."

The D-backs' lineup took advantage of Collmenter controlling the Dodgers' offense, scoring a run on Chris Owings' single to make it 3-2 in the third inning before unleashing the power it showcased in an 18-7 blowout win Saturday.

Ross tied the game at 3 in the fourth inning, hitting his first home run of the season that bounced off the batter's eye in center field. The left fielder has struggled since returning to the lineup from a hip injury. He finished the game 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored before being replaced by Ender Inciarte in the eighth inning.

"There was talk of me not ever playing again, or coming back midway through the season," Ross said. "And here we are in May, and I'm able to produce and we get a big win today. It's pretty special."

An inning later, third baseman Eric Chavez, who came in as a defensive replacement for Martin Prado after he left the game due to blurry vision in his left eye, gave the D-backs the lead with his second home run in as many at-bats.

Chavez's homer -- his third of the season -- would prove to be all the D-backs needed to secure the victory thanks to solid relief work from the bullpen.

Oliver Perez and Evan Marshall combined for 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief before Gibson brought in right-hander Brad Ziegler.

Ziegler got in and out of trouble in the eighth. With the D-backs still holding their two-run lead, Ziegler hit Puig with a pitch. Ziegler then induced Ramirez into a potential double-play ball to Owings, but first baseman Paul Goldschmidt dropped the throw that would have completed the double play and ended the inning.

The Dodgers loaded the bases on a pair of singles, but Ziegler escaped the jam when Matt Kemp lined out to second baseman Cliff Pennington, ending the Dodgers' last threat before D-backs closer Addison Reed shut the door in the ninth.

"The Diamondbacks are tough. They don't roll over," Haren said. "They're going to play better than earlier in the year. They'll be in a lot of games."