Diamondbacks Close Road Trip Strong, Beat Dodgers 4-1

Nice close out to an otherwise miserable 3-6 road trip through California. The Diamondbacks held a surging Dodgers team to a combined one run in last 18 innings. Ian Kennedy did his part in Sunday's 4-1 victory with six strong innings that included eight strike outs. 

Offensively, the Diamondbacks got to Ted Lilly in the second inning with a pair of homers from Xavier Nady and Ryan Roberts along with a Chris Young RBI sacrifice fly.

The Diamondbacks return home with a 17-22 record and face the San Diego Padres in a two-game series and then host the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins in a seven-game home stand. Daniel Hudson is scheduled to get the start on Monday although nothing's been announced.

For more on the game visit AZ Snake Pit.

Diamondbacks Break Through Behind Collmenter's 1st Start, 1-0

Josh Collmenter pitched six scoreless innings in his first major league start and Melvin Mora hit a sacrifice fly to account for the only run scored, as Arizona defeated Los Angeles, 1-0, despite getting just one hit in the second of a three-game series.

Collmenter (2-0) allowed just two hits and struck out three, getting the start after appearing in relief seven times this season. He retired the final 11 batters he faced after allowing a one-out double to Chad Billingsley in the third inning.

Stephen Drew had the lone hit for the D-Backs as Arizona ended its five-game slide.

Billingsley (2-3) took the hard-luck loss after allowing one run and one hit while fanning eight through eight innings.

James Loney had two of the Dodgers' four hits as their three-game winning streak came to an end.

Visit AZ Snake Pit for more on this game.

Diamondbacks 1, Dodgers 0: One Hit Won-ders - AZ Snake Pit
For those that were previously unaware, the Diamondbacks' tomahawking Josh Collmenter made his first Major League start today. What better place to do it than on Fox Saturday Baseball, in front of the fervent Dodgers fans in the West with their eyes glued to Fox Saturday Baseball? Saying that Josh earned himself another start is probably in the running for understatement of the year, as he absolutely shut down Los Angeles during the six innings he was permitted to go tonight.

Another NL West Team, Another One-Run Loss For The D-backs

The Arizona Diamondbacks once again faced an NL West division opponent and once again lost, and lost by one run. Joe Saunders and crew were unable to capitalize on some early hitting against Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw and fell 4-3 at Dodger Stadium.

The loss was Arizona's fifth in a row and their last six losses have all been by one run. Saunders once again took the loss -- his sixth straight dropped decision, a career-high -- allowing four runs (three earned) over his six and two-thirds innings of work. 

Kershaw, after giving up consecutive hits to start the game and a hit and two walks in the third inning, settled down and retired 14 straight D-backs batters before leaving the game with the Dodgers up 4-0.

L.A.'s bullpen provided some anxiety in the eighth and ninth innings before things were through, however. Xavier Nady's eighth-inning single scored Chris Young and Miguel Montera added a two-run single while pinch-hitting in the ninth, scoring Justin Upton and Kelly Johnson. However, the late-game dramatics were not enough to push Arizona to come-from-behind victory. 

The game was another in a series of close-but-no-cigar victories; unfortunately, many of the losses have come against division opponents. The Snakes starting rotation and bullpen has begun to settle in and allow the team a chance to win most games, but Arizona is last in the major leagues in runs on the road, which has not proved helpful on their extended NL West road swing.

Diamondbacks Honor Military With Free Tickets

All active, reserve and retired military personnel with a valid military identification card may receive two Baseline Reserve tickets when showing identification at any Chase Field ticket office next week. The D-backs had previously offered the same free military ticket offer to any of the D-backs games against the Colorado Rockies May 3-5.

"We saw a great response from military personnel when we offered the free tickets during the Rockies series at the beginning of the month," said D-backs' President & CEO Derrick Hall. "Since May is annually Military Appreciation Month throughout the country, we thought it would be appropriate to extend the free ticket offer to the military during the next homestand. We want to show our appreciation to the many men and women who have served our great country."

Overall, the D-backs contributed more than 25,000 tickets last season to active duty military personnel and their families.

Diamondbacks Woeful California Trip Continues Vs. LA Dodgers

The Arizona Diamondbacks are 1-5 on their trip through California's NL West opponents. They've outscored the Padres and Giants 17-16 and have lost every game by one run (h/t AZ Snake Pit). Frustrating for sure but could it also be a sign of progress? As with anything in sports, what matters more than what happened, is what happens next. And next up is the MLB owned LA Dodgers for a three-game weekend series in Chavez Ravine. 

The Dodgers start things out with their ace, Clayton Kershaw (4-3, 3.12 ERA).  Kershaw has pitched well but does have a tendency to get wild at times so patience at the plate would be helpful for the D-backs. Facing Kershaw is D-backs starter Joe Saunders (0-4, 5.72 ERA). Those stats speak for themselves. Saunders has a WHIP of 1.68, the worst of his career so either he's due for some good games or this guy is just getting worse.

Josh Collmenter will get his first MLB start on Saturday against Chad Billingsley. Collmenter has pitched great out of the pen and now it's time to see if he can keep the spot vacated by Barry Enright who is now in Reno trying to figure things out.

Sunday you can pencil in a win (no jinx!)  with ace Ian Kennedy facing Ted Lilly.

Friday's game starts at 7:10 p.m. on Fox Sports Arizona and with the live game thread at AZ Snake Pit who bring us several interesting D-backs' stories today.

Where Do The Diamondbacks Go From Here? - AZ Snake Pit
In May 2010, the Diamondbacks went on a nine-game road-trip, visiting their NL West rivals. They never came back. In May 2011, the Diamondbacks went on a nine-game road-trip, visiting their NL West rivals. And it's not looking good.

Diamondbacks Farm Round-Up: May 12 - AZ Snake Pit
Well, at least we know where the Diamondbacks' offense has gone: Reno. The Aces reached double-figures in runs for the tenth time this season - in only 35 games. However, that was the only win for the Arizona farm system, who were outscored 19-23 in total. Snakelet of the Day: Brandon Allen (Triple-A): 3-for-4, 2 HR, BB, 3 RBI, 3 R

Series Preview #13: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers - AZ Snake Pit
After spending the past three games flailing at Giant pitching with runners in scoring position, the Diamondbacks finish up their California Calamity Tour (TM), against the hated Los Angeles Dodgers...I suppose the team is still paying off its mojo from 2007, where they won 90 games despite being outscored.