D-backs resume series with Mariners

Daniel Hudson bounced back from one of the worst outings of his career to beat one of the majors' best hitting teams.

The Arizona Diamondbacks hope that Hudson shows up again tonight in the second contest of a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners.

Hudson is 2-0 with a 5.40 earned run average in four starts since returning from a stint on the disabled list caused by a shoulder injury. The bulk of that damage off the right-hander came in a 1 2/3-inning stint versus Oakland on June 8 in which he was charged with six runs in a no-decision.

Hudson, though, bounced back to beat the Rangers on Thursday, allowing three runs over seven innings while striking out a season-high seven. He moved to 3-1 with a 5.67 ERA in seven starts this season.

"He kept his feet under him after having a tough first inning," said Arizona manager Kirk Gibson about Hudson. "He stayed with his gameplan and kept them off-balance, did a good job of shutting them down tonight."

The 25-year-old has faced the Mariners once before and got the win, charged with a run over 6 2/3 frames while scattering five hits and four walks.

Taking the hill for Seattle will be Erasmo Ramirez, who will make the second start of his big-league career.

The righty began his first season with seven relief appearances before getting optioned to the minors in early May to stretch out as a starter. He was summoned back to the Mariners and made the start last Thursday versus the Padres, but was tagged for six runs -- five earned -- on eight hits and a walk over five-plus innings. The righty had allowed three runs in 11 innings out of the bullpen.

"I felt like Ramirez was OK today," Seattle manager Eric Wedge told his team's website. "He was up a little bit more than we'd like to see him. It made it tough for him. They fouled a lot of pitches off, had some long ABs there in that first inning. He gets up a little, that's when it flattens out on him and that's what we saw tonight.

"His stuff was good. It's his first start, he has that out of the way. It's something to work off of now."

The 22-year-old is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA on the season and will face the Diamondbacks for the first time.

Arizona snapped a seven-game slide to Seattle by taking last night's opener 7-1 behind Aaron Hill's cycle, the fifth in franchise history. The second baseman singled in the first, tripled in the third, doubled in the fifth and then completed the cycle with a homer in the seventh.

"It was nice to come out and get the bats rolling," said Hill, who scored three times. "Any time you come out and spread the ball around it's nice."

Hill's efforts were plenty for starter Wade Miley (8-3), who lowered his earned run average to 2.30 by scattering nine hits and striking out eight over seven innings of one-run ball.

Arizona was coming off back-to-back shutout losses to the LA Angels of Anaheim, but snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak by plating three runs in the first. That helped the Diamondbacks beat the Mariners for the first time since July 16, 2001 and at home for the first time since July 17 of the previous year.

Hector Noesi was on the opposite end of the decision, allowing six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits over six frames. Casper Wells drove in Seattle's only run with an RBI double in the sixth.

"Their guy pitched a good ballgame," Wedge said of Miley. "We were never in a position to do some damage."

Wedge is expected to put Ichiro Suzuki back in the lineup tonight after giving his 38-year-old outfielder the night off on Monday. Ichiro is hitting .255 through 67 games this season and his next hit will be the 2,500th of his MLB career.