Gonzalez’s Trifecta Overwhelms Royals

Luis Gonzalez is swinging the way he did at the start of the season.

Gonzalez hit three home runs, and Randy Johnson beat Kansas City for the ninth consecutive time Friday night, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to an 11-4 interleague victory.

Gonzalez, who had four runs batted in, hit home runs in the first, fifth and ninth innings to raise his total to 25. Only San Francisco’s Barry Bonds, with 32, has more.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Gonzalez, whose 13 homers in April tied the month’s record, set by Ken Griffey Jr. in 1997. “Barry’s not going to lose any sleep looking over his shoulder.”

Johnson (7-4), who was 11-6 against the Royals while pitching for the Seattle Mariners, had 11 strikeouts and gave up only one run in seven innings. He raised his major league-leading strikeout total to 148.

The left-hander struck out the side in the third and fourth innings and fanned five in a row at one point. He gave up seven hits, including Rey Sanchez’s run-scoring single in the fifth, and one walk.

Steve Finley added a three-run home run for the Diamondbacks, who have won 14 of their last 18 games.

The Royals, who got a three-run shot from Mike Sweeney off Erik Sabel in the eighth inning, lost for the eighth time in 11 games and dropped to 21-39, duplicating their worst record ever after 60 games.

Gonzalez hit solo shots off Paul Byrd (0-1) in the first and fifth innings for his third consecutive multihit game and his fifth multihomer game of the season.

“When I’m hitting the ball to left-center and up the middle, that’s when I know my swing’s really starting to get compact and short again,” he said.

In the ninth, Gonzalez became the second player in Diamondback history to hit three homers in one game, sending a 425-foot two-run shot over the center-field fence. Finley hit three homers on Sept. 8, 1999, against Milwaukee.

“He’s hot. That’s a good hitter right there,” said Doug Henry, who gave up Gonzalez’s homer in the ninth. “He’s seeing the ball well. If he gets a pitch he can drive, he’s going to do it. Tonight he got a few pitches he could drive so he did it.”

Byrd went five innings in his first game since being acquired from Philadelphia, giving up three runs.

Mark Grace drove in a run with a two-out single in the third.

Reliever Mac Suzuki walked the first three batters in the sixth, then Craig Counsell got a sacrifice fly and Finley scored on Henry’s wild pitch for a 5-0 lead.

In the four-run seventh, Finley hit his fourth home run and Tony Womack scored on a throwing error by second baseman Carlos Febles.