PHILADELPHIA — Joe Saunders had the misfortune of facing the old Roy Halladay.
Halladay gave up three hits over seven innings, and Erik Kratz homered and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
Halladay (5-6) allowed just four runners and struck out five to earn his first win since May 17. The two-time Cy Young Award winner was winless in his previous five starts, including three after returning from a two-month stint on the disabled list.
Saunders (5-8) was the hard-luck loser for Arizona, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. The lefty allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings.
"He's Roy Halladay," Saunders said. "You just turn the page and come back tomorrow."
Saunders continued his run of solid starts on the road. He has a 2.48 ERA in nine starts away from home.
"He pitched a great game for us," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said.
Josh Lindblom had two strikeouts in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon finished off a four-hitter for his 24th save in 27 tries.
Kratz drove a 2-0 pitch out to left for his fourth homer in just 24 at-bats to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the third.
Kratz came up with the bases loaded in the fourth after Domonic Brown worked a walk in a 10-pitch at-bat. Kratz also walked to force in a run that made it 2-0.
"I got myself in trouble with Kratz," Saunders said. "I made a bad pitch, and the bases-loaded walk didn't help."
Then Kratz showed off his arm.
From his knees, he threw out Gerardo Parra trying to steal second to end the top of the eighth.
"He shouldn't have been running," Gibson said. "It was a mistake."
While Kratz had a breakout game, his batterymate looked like his old self. Halladay pitched like an eight-time All-Star instead of the guy who entered with a 4.33 ERA.
"The last two games I feel things are going in the right direction," Halladay said. "I made some changes, and it's nice to see the results. Nice to see it pay off."
Halladay's velocity was up — he topped out at 93 mph in the first inning — and he threw an assortment of off-speed pitches and an effective cutter to keep the Diamondbacks off balance.
"He moved the ball, threw a lot of offspeed stuff," Gibson said. "He's so deceptive and has that great arm motion."
Brown gave the Phillies an insurance run with a two-out RBI single in the eighth.
NOTES: Arizona's John McDonald was 0 for 3 and is in a 4-for-34 slump. ... The Diamondbacks have scored three runs or fewer in 10 of the last 12 games in Philadelphia. ... The Diamondbacks were shut out for the sixth time this season. ... Philadelphia LHP Cliff Lee (2-6, 3.73 ERA) faces RHP Trevor Cahill (9-9, 3.75) in the series finale Sunday. Lee is seeking his second straight win.—
Rob Maaddi can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/RobMaaddi