Rodrigo Lopez pitched eight strong innings and Justin Upton homered as the Arizona Diamondbacks snapped a seven-game slide with a 11-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.
Stephen Drew had three hits - including a homer - and Kelly Johnson tied for the National League lead with his 11th blast for the Diamondbacks, who reached double digits in runs for the first time this month.
It was the longest outing for Lopez since April 14, 2006, who was out of the major leagues completely in 2008 and pitched in just seven games with the Philadelphia Phillies last season. The well-traveled right-hander was not even supposed to be a member of the rotation when the season started, making the team when Brandon Webb got hurt.
Lopez (2-2) looked every bit like he deserved a spot on Saturday, striking out five while scattering seven hits and walking two.
Arizona jumped on Braves starter Tommy Hanson (3-3) with a run in the first and four more in the fifth before taking advantage of the Atlanta bullpen late, adding a run in the eighth and five more in the ninth.
Johnson and Drew homered in the ninth-inning rally and Adam LaRoche chipped in an RBI double.
Martin Prado picked up the Braves' lone RBI with a groundout in the seventh and Troy Glaus had a pair of hits as Atlanta's four-game winning streak came to an end.
Arizona | Atlanta | |
Rodrigo Lopez | Player | Tommy Hanson |
Win | W/L | Loss |
8.0 | IP | 7.0 |
5 | Strikeouts | 10 |
7 | Hits | 7 |
1.12 | ERA | 6.43 |
Arizona | Atlanta | |
Stephen Drew | Player | Troy Glaus |
3 | Hits | 2 |
3 | RBI | 0 |
1 | HR | 0 |
6 | TB | 2 |
.600 | Avg | .667 |