Worth noting

• Shortstop Cliff Pennington was originally scheduled to be a backup in Thursday night's game against the Rockies, but he asked manager Kirk Gibson if he could start in the day game against the Dodgers instead.

Pennington wound up going 3-for-3 and was a home run away from hitting for the cycle.

"He's a gamer," Gibson said. "He wanted to play."

• The D-backs are hoping to reduce the workload of right-hander Josh Collmenter, who threw 92 innings in relief last year.

"We hope to have a bullpen where he doesn't have to shoulder the load as much," Gibson said. "Pitch a little differently. We have to figure that exact component out, though, what the makeup is."

The team would like to keep at least one other reliever capable of pitching multiple innings, such as Randall Delgado.

• Wade Miley felt good about his start against the Rockies in which he allowed one run on four hits over five innings.

"I'm making progress," Miley said. "I feel like it's easier to get up and down five times, and that's kind of what you're looking for."