Ketel Marte had an RBI single and scored in a two-run fourth inning, and rookie left-hander Alex Young struck out a career-high 12 in eight scoreless innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks continued their playoff charge with a 2-0 victory over the host Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.

Young (7-3) gave up only two hits, infield singles by Jose Iglesias in the fifth inning and Curt Casali in the eighth, and walked one while winning his third straight decision. He threw a career-high 109 pitches.

Eduardo Escobar had two hits for the Diamondbacks, who have won five in a row and 11 of 12 while closing in on the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild-card spot.

Young out-dueled Cincinnati right-hander Luis Castillo (14-6), who gave up three hits, walked three and struck out 10 in 7 2/3 innings, as the Reds lost for the eighth time in 11 games. Castillo is fourth in the NL with 208 strikeouts.

Pinch hitter Alex Blandino singled to open the Reds' ninth inning off Andrew Chafin, and Joey Votto walked with one out. But Jimmie Sherfy entered and struck out Eugenio Suarez and Aristides Aquino for his first save of the season.

The Diamondbacks broke a scoreless tie after Jarrod Dyson walked to open the fourth inning, their first baserunner. Dyson stole second and scored on Marte's single for a 1-0 lead. Dyson has 29 stolen bases, third in the NL.

Marte took third on Escobar's double to left and scored a hard ground ball by Christian Walker that struck Castillo in the left leg. Castillo recovered the ball to throw out Walker, and he remained in the game after shooing the trainer back to the dugout. Escobar has reached safely in 12 straight games.

Marte has hit safely in his last 17 starts, and since June 15, he is hitting a major league-high .391 with 42 RBIs.

The Diamondbacks were 5 1/2 games out of the second wild-card spot after a 4-0 loss at Milwaukee on Aug. 24 before starting their run. They entered Saturday 2 1/2 games behind the Cubs.

--Field Level Media