The Skinny: Stephen Drew, Adam Dunn and Conor Jackson drove in 2 runs apiece as the Arizona Diamondbacks pasted the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-3 in the first game of a 3-game series at Chase Field. The loss was the Dodgers’ 8th straight. Dunn broke up a scoreless tie in the 4th with an rbi double that scored Chris Young. The Dodgers answered with 2 runs in the top of the 5th, one coming on a Matt Kemp sac fly that plated Andre Ethier. Later, James Loney singled in Manny Ramirez to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. The Diamondbacks scored 3 in their half of the 5th, with Jeff Salazar’s pinch hit rbi single giving them the lead for good. The Diamondbacks added 4 in the 7th and 1 in the 8th for good measure.

Diamondbacks Player of the Game: Adam Dunn. Dunn had an rbi double, a run-scoring single and walked again. His on base percentage rose to .493 since joining the Diamondbacks. Honorable mention goes to the bullpen combination of Juan Cruz, Chad Qualls, Billy Buckner and Max Scherzer, who pitched a combined 4 innings in relief of starter Doug Davis, and gave up only one run. It’s exactly the kind of performance need for the much-maligned bullpen.

Numbers: Diamondbacks’ manager Bob Melvin was ejected in the 5th inning for arguing a fan interference call. It was his 2nd ejection this season, and 14th in his managerial career…the Dodgers have now scored only 15 runs in the first 8 games of their 10-game road trip. Not surprisingly, they are 0-8 on the trip.

Influx of Youth: Reliever Max Scherzer and Justin Upton returned for the Diamondbacks. Scherzer, who has been in the minor leagues since June 13th, threw a perfect 8th inning to lower his season ERA to 2.81. Upton, who has not played since July 8th, had a pinch hit double, and scored a run in the 6th inning.

Scoreboard watching: Those pesky Colorado Rockies keep on winning. Garrett Atkins homered twice for Colorado in a 9-4 over San Diego. The Diamondbacks now lead the Dodgers by 4.5 games, and the Rockies by 6 heading into Saturday’s action.

MLB.com : Recap | Boxscore

Here’s what others are saying about the Diamondbacks’ convincing win over the Dodgers…

D-Backs get big win over Dodgers [AZ Central]

Diamondbacks defeat slumping Dodgers, 9-3 [East Valley Trib]

Dodgers sinking faster in the West [Los Angeles Times]

Dodgers lose to D-Backs, are 4 1/2 out of first [L.A. Daily News]

The series picks up Saturday with the Dodgers’ best pitcher, Chad Billingsley going against the Diamondbacks’ Dan Haren. First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 PM at Chase Field.

Join the discussion at The Fanster Forums. Arizona Sports 24/7.