MIAMI - As Arizona Diamondbacks reliever David Hernandez came in from the bullpen Sunday afternoon, his mind flashed back to the last time he entered a game started by teammate Daniel Hudson.
"The first thing that went through my mind was that I owe 'Huddy' one," Hernandez said.
The reliever coughed up a would-be Hudson victory with an ugly inning in Pittsburgh last week, but he redeemed himself Sunday, getting out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam by allowing just one run, helping the D-backs hold on for a 5-1 win over the Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium.
Asked to protect a two-run lead Tuesday at PNC Park, Hernandez didn't retire any of the six batters he faced, and Hudson's lead disintegrated into a loss.
But Sunday, after Hudson gave up a hit and two walks to the first three batters of the seventh inning, Hernandez got Gaby Sanchez to fly to center, struck out Mike Stanton and got Greg Dobbs on another fly ball to keep the lead intact.
"Anytime you ruin a great performance from a starting pitcher, you do feel bad for them," Hernandez said. "I was happy I was able to come into that situation and had a chance to redeem myself."
He then got two more outs in the eighth, and lefty Joe Paterson and right-hander Aaron Heilman did the rest, helping the D-backs win for the second day in a row and remain one game behind the San Francisco Giants, who beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 later Sunday.
The D-backs will look to win the four-game series tonight when they face the Marlins' Ricky Nolasco before returning home for a three-game series against the Giants at Chase Field.
"They did a great job coming in, David especially," Hudson said. "That really kind of swung the momentum back in our direction. They really shifted it a little bit, but David getting those three outs was really big."
The Marlins went 0 for 12 with men in scoring position, a feeling with which D-backs manager Kirk Gibson could relate.
"Oh, yeah, it's frustrating," he said. "It's very frustrating, but we did a very good job (Sunday)."
The D-backs capitalized on their chances, starting in the first inning when Stephen Drew lined a two-run double into right-center field for the first of his three hits.
Ryan Roberts hit his second home run in as many days to lead off the third, and the D-backs added another run that inning off Marlins lefty Brad Hand, who struggled with his control.
Today
• Who: D-backs at Marlins
• When: 4:10 p.m.
• TV: FSAZ
• Radio: 1490-AM, 104.9-FM
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