PHOENIX -- Chances are Justin Huber won't romanticize tales of his first Major League home run when he gets around to returning to his native Australia, but not because he didn't think it was an important hit for himself and the Padres on Sunday.

"It's pretty special ... but I don't see myself telling stories about it in 10 or 20 years," Huber said. "No one [in Australia] knows who Randy Johnson is."

The news of Huber's three-run home run off Johnson, the key blow in the Padres' 9-4 victory over the Diamondbacks on Sunday, might not merit headlines in Huber's native country, though it was certainly embraced inside his own clubhouse.

For starters, the home run off Johnson was the pivotal hit in a five-run sixth inning at Chase Field, which had essentially been the Padres' not-so-little house of horrors this weekend, as San Diego (9-10) lost the previous two contests here by a combined score of 19-3.

It wasn't just Huber's hitting that allowed the Padres to snap their four-game losing skid, but also Randy Wolf's strong pitching and fine relief work by Cla Meredith, Heath Bell and Glendon Rusch.

But Huber's first home run was clearly the highlight of the game for the Padres and a welcome sight for a team that had gone 106 innings without a home run until they hit two on Saturday.

"We think there's a home run in our lineup," Padres manager Bud Black said.

He just might not have thought Huber would have been the one to hit one off Johnson (0-1), who allowed six runs (four earned) on six hits with three walks in 5 2/3 innings.

Huber, who was in the starting lineup in left field Sunday because the Diamondbacks had the left-handed Johnson on the mound, entered the game with seven at-bats in the first 18 games of the season, the fewest among all San Diego position players. Even pitcher Jake Peavy had more at-bats (nine).

"Randy can be a little tough on left-handed hitters," Black said. "We felt today was a good day to go with as much right-handed hitting as possible. That's what Justin is here for, to get some at-bats off left-handed pitching."

Huber, who had a single in the eighth inning, was just one of two new faces in the lineup Sunday. Callix Crabbe, who hadn't started a Major League game prior to Friday, got his third start in as many days at a different position.

Crabbe was in right field, giving Brian Giles' right knee and oblique -- one old injury, the former somewhat new -- a day off against Johnson, as Giles had just three hits in 30 career at-bats against the tall left-hander.

Crabbe, who reached base three times, had a double in the pivotal five-run sixth inning and later reached on an error on a ball hit between shortstop and third base that allowed another run to score in the eighth inning.

"We've got to continue that on a regular basis to get to where we want to be," Black said of the Padres' struggles with getting big hits with runners in scoring position. "But that's a good sign to have some guys coming off our bench to contribute.

Wolf, who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of his last start against Colorado, gave up a double to Conor Jackson in the second inning Sunday, essentially removing the drama that he might be up to the task for an encore performance.

Wolf allowed a run in that second inning on a sacrifice fly by Chris Burke but very little else, as he didn't allow another hit until the fourth inning when Jackson lined a single to center. The Diamondbacks had just the two hits until the seventh inning when they chased Wolf, who allowed three runs in the inning.

"My fastball location was good, the changeup was good. I still think my stuff was good in the seventh," said Wolf, who would have rather talked about the Padres' hitting on Sunday instead of his pitching. "On Friday [Wolf's next start against the Diamondbacks] I might throw Conor underhand."

Jackson tormented the Padres all weekend, going 8-for-14 with four extra-base hits and four RBIs.

Jackson had a single and scored on Mark Reynolds' RBI double inside the third-base bag in the seventh. After Wolf walked Burke, Robby Hammock lined an RBI double to left-center. Wolf got his only out of the inning with a strikeout of pinch-hitter Micah Owings before departing the game in favor of Meredith.

"He mixed it up a little bit better today. He pitched in and out with his fastball, pitched up and down with it," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said of Wolf. "Once he got ahead, he had a better changeup than what we had seen in the past. He's been pitching well for them."

All told, Wolf allowed six hits with one walk over 6 1/3 innings. He had seven strikeouts.

Meredith, faced with a second-and-third situation, got two ground balls to second base as one run scored, though preserved the lead.

"I kept the team in the game early," Wolf said. "But the story was our hitting."