Daniel Hudson pitched well and the Diamondbacks scored early to secure a 5-3 victory and claim their sixth straight road win.
The Arizona Diamondbacks could only muster five hits against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. Fortunately, they made them count, defeating the Royals 3-2 at Kaufman Stadium.
Ian Kennedy was impressive once again, going six innings and giving up only one earned run. With the win, Kennedy improves his record to 8-2 and his ERA to 2.90.
The bullpen was far from perfect, with Micah Owings giving up a run in the seventh and J.J. Putz nearly giving away the game in the bottom of the ninth before retiring future superstar Eric Hosmer with two on and two out.
Xavier Nady, Willie Bloomquist and Ryan Roberts all added RBI in the fifth inning, providing all the run support Kennedy would need.
It wasn't pretty, but Arizona keeps finding ways to win. At 41-34, they now own a half game advantage over the San Francisco Giants to lead the NL West, who are still in action against the Minnesota Twins.
The Diamondbacks go for the series sweep tomorrow at 5:10 PM Pacific time. Kirk Gibson will send Daniel Hudson (8-5, 3.56) to the mound to face Felipe Paulino (0-4, 4.10). Will the Diamondbacks bust out the brooms? With a tough series against Detroit coming up, another win is much needed.
We all have skeletons in our closets. The embarrassing haircut that was totally cool at the time (it wasn't), or that radical flame shirt the girls just loved (they didn't). Fortunately for most of us, those shameful displays can stay locked away in brittle family albums and dusty old VHS cassettes of the easily smashable variety.
But if that blemish on your record ever once hit the light of day -- thanks to the wonders of the internets -- oh you can bet we'll see it eventually. So let's just say you were Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson in 1989. A star slugger for the Los Angeles Dodgers, riding high on your fame, sporting a power mustache for the ages. Then say you got a chance to showcase your acting chops in a partially-nude, kind of incriminating, Jacuzzi-chest-hair laden deodorant ad. Not quite something you'd want to come back to you 22 years later when you're the tough-as-nails manager of veteran-filled MLB team.
Diamondbacks fan most certainly can't forget Miguel Batista. He's that odd-ball guy who wrote poetry in Spanish and played a mean Navajo flute. And by the way, the was the third starter on the 2011 World Series Champion Arizona Diamondbacks. He pitched 7.2 scoreless innings in Game 3 before BK Kim happened. He also got one huge out against Derek Jeter in Game 7 sandwiched in between Curt Shilling and Randy Johnson's famous ninth inning giving him a career World Series ERA of .000.
If there's any active player out there who the Diamondbacks should give a chance to it's Miguel who was recently released from the St. Louis Cardinals. Sure, he's 40-years-old (as am I) but he's pitched well for the Cardinals this year (as I've not).
Is This Farewell For Miguel Batista? - Baseball Nation
You might argue that Batista deserves at least one more shot; after all, before getting rocked in two of his last three outings, he'd sported a 2.28 ERA in 27 appearances for the Cardinals.
The D-backs most certainly need another arm in their bullpen and Batista's been working out of the pen exclusively for the last three seasons.
Bring back Miguel!
ST. LOUIS, MO - JUNE 19: Miguel Batista #44 of the St. Louis Cardinals pumps his fist after getting a double play to end the inning against the Kansas City Royals at Busch Stadium on June 19, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
Wily Mo Pena, just barely brought up from the minor leagues to play DH for the Arizona Diamondbacks during their interleague road trip, homered in his second at-bat as the D-backs beat the Kansas City Royals in the first game of their three-game series 7-2. Pena had been killing minor league pitching, having hit 21 hromeruns so far this season.
Joe Saunders began the game allowing a homerun on his first pitch to Alex Gordon, continuing his pattern of allowing runs in the first inning, but locked things down after that. He gave up only six hits and three walks in seven innings of work, allowing just the two runs.
After Pena's fifth-inning homer tied the game, Arizona took the lead the next inning as Justin Upton's double drove in Kelly Johnson. With three runs in the seventh inning, thanks to a two-run triple by Gerardo Parra after a hit by Miguel Montero and a double by Juan Miranda, which was followed by an RBI groundout by Ryan Roberts. Chris Young added to the lead with a two-run homer in the eighth, his 15th of the year.
After Saunders left after seven innings, David Hernandez and Aaron Heilman closed the game with two scoreless innings. The win puts Arizona in a good position to win the series in KC, as their two aces, Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson are set to go in the two remaining games.
Saunders, with the win, brings his record to 4-7 and lowers his ERA to a respectable 4.35.
Justin Upton continued his torrid hitting, collecting two more extra base hits. His season average is now .305.
For more reactions and coverage of the Arizona Diamondbacks, visit the AZ Snake Pit.
The Arizona Diamondbacks didn't fare so well in their last two series at home. They went a combined 2-4 against the San Francisco Giants and lowly Chicago White Sox. It wasn't a great showing for the team that people are just starting to get excited about. The hitting (other than Justin Upton) has dropped off and the bullpen hasn't been nearly as stellar.
The Kansas City Royals (31-41) will hopefully be just the answer to the little slump. They are young and are finally starting to reap the rewards of all those early draft picks that come from being bad for so long. They they are still 10 games under .500 and it's a series the D-backs need to win to get back on track.
To add some pop from the DH position in these next to road series in American League parks, the D-backs called up big slugger Wily Mo Pena. It should be fun to see what he can do.
Twitter / @dbacks: #Dbacks outright Sean Burr ...
#Dbacks outright Sean Burroughs after today's game to free up roster spot; 9 of next 12 games will be played in AL ballparks
Joe Saunders will go on Tuesday with Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson follow on Wednesday and Thursday. Games start at 5:10 p.m. on Fox Sports Arizona with live game threads at AZ Snake Pit.
Diamondbacks Start Strong, Sweep Royals With 5-3 Victory
The Arizona Diamondbacks used some early scoring and a measure of good pitching by Daniel Hudson to secure a 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals. With the win, the Diamondbacks completed a sweep of the Royals and clinched their sixth straight road win.
The Diamondbacks came out swinging, posting two runs in the first inning and scoring five runs total in the first four innings. The Royals countered with three runs of their own through four innings, but it would not be enough as the game turned into a defensive struggle and both teams failed to score over the final five innings.
Pitcher Daniel Hudson (9-5) allowed just six hits and three runs total in seven innings, keeping the Royals at bay while the Diamondbacks were mounting their assault over the first four innings. He has been on fire lately, posting an 8-1 record in his last eleven games after starting the season with four consecutive losses as a starter. Hudson is currently tied for most victories by a pitcher in the National League.
The Diamondbacks now move on to a three-game road series against the Detroit Tigers. The Diamondbacks are 42-34 on the season and will look to remain atop the standings of the NL West as they lead the San Francisco Gaints by .5 games.
Jun 23 9:25p by Nikil Selvam