The D-backs scored a half-dozen runs (finally!) in a win Tuesday night, including a three-run homer off the bat of Cody Ross. But nobody took a bigger swing than the D-backs’ manager.

“There’s just no excuse for it, period. There’s no excuse for it,” Kirk Gibson stated emphatically in response to a question regarding the recent player suspensions for using banned performance enhancers. “I don’t care what they say.”

Don’t blame Gibson if the ‘D’ in D-back stands for “dander up.” In fact, give him a standing ovation. If nothing else, it’s good to hear Gibby-ball play hard ball as he stands up for the game itself — again.

“It’s just a matter of time. It’s like a lot of things in this country, somebody finally has the (guts) to speak up and everybody kind of quietly comes out of the cracks,” Gibson said before the D-backs started a two-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Does Gibby have the right to be a rootin’ and a tootin’? You’re darn tootin’. Let’s see, the D-backs got cheated out of…err, lost a 2011 playoff series to a Milwaukee Brewers team led by the NL MVP, Ryan Braun, who’s currently serving a season-ending suspension.

Not to mention, during his playing career, Gibson witnessed the beginning of the steroid era. In other words, the MLB player/manager hasn’t been competing on a level playing field for more than two decades.

“People are afraid to say what’s really right, because they’re afraid that they might be scrutinized and might be taken the wrong way,” Gibson continued. “It just takes time, it’s a process.”

Furthermore, since the D-backs did not have a major leaguer cited — much less disciplined — in the recent MLB investigation, it’s easy to understand why the innocent players are as fed up with the cheaters as the fans in the stands and the suits in the suites.

“I hope they recognize that virtually everybody is clean,” Gibson emphasized. “Most people are clean. I think what you’re hearing by them (players) speaking out, is that they want to continue to go down the road of eliminating people who cheat via PEDs.”

Whichever D-back wound up with the game ball, please give it to the manager.