Trumbo's pair of jacks help D-backs deck Cards

PHOENIX -- The D-backs prevailed with some power hitting on Saturday night, as Mark Trumbo hit a pair of homers in the D-backs' 5-2 win over the Cardinals at Chase Field to even the three-game series.

Trumbo's second jack, a three-run blast in the seventh off reliever Seth Maness, proved to be the decisive blow and kept the Cardinals from clinching their second straight National League Central title -- for at least another day -- which was a fact Trumbo downplayed after the game.

"We're aware of what's going on outside of here, and their situation, but we're still playing for us," he said.

Trumbo's two-homer night came less than a week after another power surge during the D-backs' last road trip, in which Trumbo hit three home runs in two days against the Rockies and Twins. Power, normally Trumbo's calling card, had been an issue before those games. The 28-year-old had only two home runs between July 11, when he came off the disabled list after sustaining a fractured left foot, and Sept. 20.

"I aim to be as consistent as I can be, but I think history shows I can be a tad streaky," Trumbo said. "Sometimes the good times are pretty good, and sometimes ... they're not. It seems like recently it's been going OK."

D-backs acting manager Alan Trammell said he thought some of Trumbo's previous struggles could be attributed to the first baseman focusing too much on his lack of power hitting.

"I'm sure in the back of the mind, because he's a power hitter [and] he's not had that kind of success, that he's thought about that probably more than he'd like," Trammell said. "There's a number of factors, but we're happy to have him and I guarantee that he'll have a much better year next year."

Trumbo was not alone in the home run column. David Peralta got the D-backs on the board first with a solo home run two pitches before Trumbo smacked his first-inning solo shot.

Peralta and Trumbo's back-to-back blasts marked the fourth time this season that D-backs hitters homered in consecutive at-bats. Nick Evans and Chris Owings were the last to do it against the Rockies on June 3.

"Two pitches I'd like back in the first," Cardinals starter Lance Lynn said. "They both ran back over the middle and both guys put good swings on them. I was able to get through six [innings]. I'd like the two back in the first, but after that, I was able to battle and get through six."

Lynn and D-backs starter Wade Miley each had their issues, and neither factored in the decision. Miley exited after five innings, in which he allowed two runs on six hits, while striking out six and walking three.

"I felt like I struggled the whole night and had to battle a lot," Miley said.

But reliever Randall Delgado took over in the sixth inning of a 2-2 game and pitched three scoreless innings of relief en route to his fourth victory of the season.

"[He] started off in the rotation and then we put him in the bullpen, but I think they have some starting pitching aspirations for Randall for next year," Trammell said. "I don't know that, but I just have a sneaky suspicion this year that he'll be in the running."