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D-Backs hope to bounce back versus Marlins

Aug 21, 2012 - 2:50 PM (Sports Network) - The Arizona Diamondbacks were looking to take advantage of a disappointing Miami Marlins club and keep pace in the National League West on Monday.

Instead, the D-Backs were routed on their home turf and will try to rebound in the second contest of this three-day, four-game series.

Arizona came into the opener having won four in a row, one off its season-high winning streak. Things looked good when it got a solo homer from Jason Kubel in the first inning, but Miami responded with a nine-run fourth inning and cruised to a 12-3 victory.

Giancarlo Stanton did a chunk of the damage for the Marlins, homering twice and driving in four runs. He is hitting .313 with seven homers and 15 RBI in 13 games since missing a month of action due to injury.

Miami matched a club record with 10 hits in the fourth frame, which saw three Marlins players notch two hits in the same innings for the first time in franchise history. Those hits came off the bats of Jose Reyes, who went 4- for-5 in the game, Carlos Lee and Donovan Solano.

Justin Ruggiano and John Buck launched solo shots for the Marlins, who split a four-game series with the Colorado Rockies over the weekend.

Mark Buehrle allowed two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks over seven innings to win his second straight start.

"It was nice," Buehrle said of getting a lot of run support. "If you get a lead like that, obviously you don't want to go out there and just pump heaters, you still have got to pitch and get guys out."

Joe Saunders was lit up for nine runs on 12 hits in 3 2/3 innings to take the loss for the Diamondbacks.

"Joe just didn't throw the ball very good, they got three dink hits off of him," manager Kirk Gibson said. "He just felt tired, they got four more hits and nine runs. It happened quickly."

Denied a fifth straight win, Arizona fell five games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the NL West.

The D-Backs also made a move following the loss, trading shortstop Stephen Drew to the Oakland Athletics for minor league infielder Sean Jamieson.

Drew missed nearly a year of action and 137 games total due to a fractured right ankle and was hitting .193 in 40 games this season with a pair of homers and 12 RBI.

Gibson said he will use a rotation of John McDonald, Willie Bloomquist and Jake Elmore at shortstop for the rest of the season.

Tuesday, the Diamondbacks turn to a starter they acquired from the A's before the start of the season in Trevor Cahill, who has gone 9-10 with a 3.75 earned run average in 24 starts this season.

Acquired along with Craig Breslow on Dec. 9 for a package of players that included prospect Jarrod Parker, Cahill was solid in a no-decision at the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. The righty yielded a run over six innings, working around five hits and a walk while fanning four.

Arizona won the game 2-1, getting a pair of solo homers in the ninth.

Cahill, 24, faced the Marlins for the first time in his career last June 30 with Oakland and was drilled for five runs -- four earned -- over 4 2/3 innings of a loss.

Ricky Nolasco gets the call for Miami and has lost six of his past seven starts.

The right-hander was dealt a 5-3 defeat versus the hosting Colorado Rockies on Thursday despite logging his longest start since his season debut on April 7. Nolasco matched his 2012 high by hurling eight innings in a complete-game loss, giving up five runs while striking out a season high-tying seven.

"You make good pitches all night and you make two mistakes, a couple mistakes, and that's the game," said Nolasco, referring to a game-tying homer yielded in the sixth and the go-ahead run that was scored on a triple in the following frame.

Nolasco is 9-12 with a 4.94 ERA in 24 starts this season and will look to reestablish success over the Diamondbacks. The 29-year-old won each of his first four career starts against them while posting a 2.12 ERA, but is 1-2 in three outings since with a 7.88 ERA.

The Diamondbacks have won six of their past eight versus the Marlins, including three of four in Miami from April 27-30. This four-game set was originally set to wrap on Thursday, but the clubs will instead play two on Wednesday because of a scheduling issue.