Both teams were held scoreless over the first three innings until Aaron Hill blasted a solo shot to left field in the top of the fourth inning to put Arizona on top 1-0. Chris Young would follow by singling to left field to score Jason Kubel and extend the D-backs lead to 2-0. With the bases loaded, Arizona third baseman would walk to score Paul Goldschmidt from third. Starter Ian Kennedy  would follow by hitting a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Young from third and put the D-backs up 4-0. Gerardo Parra would cap off the Arizona five-run fourth by doubling to deep center field to score Stephen Drew from second.

August 19, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Ian Kennedy (31) pitches in the second inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE

Houston would not respond till the bottom of the sixth inning when catcher Jason Castro singled to shallow right field to score Tyler Greene and cut the lead to 5-1.

Unfortunately for Houston, that would be the only scoring they would be able to muster off Arizona starter Ian Kennedy all night.

Arizona would add a couple runs in the top of the seventh inning when Miguel Montero singled to shallow center to score Hill and Goldschmidt to put the D-backs up 7-1. The snakes would add another run off Hill’s second homer of the night to put the game away at 8-1.

Kennedy had a solid outing for the D-backs, allowing one earned run off of five hits while allowing five walks through six innings pitched. For his efforts, Kennedy picked up his 11th victory of the season.

Arizona heads home tomorrow to open up an important 10-game homestand starting Monday evening. The D-backs send starter Trevor Cahill to the mound to open a four-game series against the visiting Miami Marlins.

Arizona got on the board first in the top of the second inning when Chris Young doubled to deep left center field to score Miguel Montero and put the D-backs up 1-0.

Chris Young went 4-5 with a home run and three RBIs on Saturday evening. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

Houston would respond in the bottom of the third inning when Houston shortstop Tyler Greene singled to right field to score Jose Altuve, and tie the score up at 1-1. They would take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when former Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder homered to left field field to score Brett Wallace and put the Astros up 3-1.

The D-backs would respond and explode offensively in the top of the fifth inning. Justin Upton would lead things off by singling to shallow right field to score Gerardo Parra and cut the Houston lead to 3-2. Paul Goldschmidt would follow by singling to left field to score Aaron Hill from second base to tie things up at 3-3. Young would collect another RBI when he singled with the bases loaded to score Upton and put Arizona on top 4-3. With the Bases loaded, Stephen Drew would draw a walk to plate another run for Arizona. The D-backs would add a couple more runs when Montero and Young would score when Ryan Wheeler reached based safely off of an error by Houston second baseman Jose Altuve, putting Arizona on top 7-3. Aaron Hill would cap off the Arizona’s 9-run fifth inning with a three-run homer to left field and extending the D-backs lead to 10-3.

Greene would add a solo home run for Houston, while Wheeler and Young would each add a solo dinger of their own to put the game out of reach for Arizona at 12-4.

Arizona starter Patrick Corbin had yet another strong start for the snakes, allowing seven hits and four earned runs through seven innings pitched to earn his fifth victory of the season.

Ian Kennedy takes the mound today as Arizona goes for the sweep against the Astros.