Ian Kennedy's Effort On Wednesday Was Ace-like

JJ Putz Misses Game On Wednesday Due To Sore Neck, Should Be Fine For San Diego Series

On Wednesday night, those that follow the Arizona Diamondbacks were a tad surprised to see David Hernandez return to the mound in the ninth inning to close out the team's 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Hernandez pitched a scoreless ninth and logged his first save of the season.

J.J. Putz, who is the team's closer, did not even warm up.

Now before to start any rumors about Putz being replaced as closer, the team addressed the situation after the game. Putz woke up Wednesday morning with a sore neck and was given the night off. He treated it and said that he would be good to go for the team's next game in San Diego on Friday. He even said that he could pitch on Thursday if the team played.

Putz missed time last season and has had back issues in the past. Erring on the side of caution is probably a good idea.

However, on the other side of things, wouldn't it be nice to get a day off of work because of sleeping wrong?

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Jason Kubel To Miss A Game Or Two On Paternity Leave, D-Backs Recall AJ Pollock

Even baseball players have to deal with family things like their wives having babies. The Arizona Diamondbacks made a roster move to accommodate a family matter of this sort. Outfielder Jason Kubel was placed on paternity leave so he could return home to be with his wife, who delivered the couple's second child on Wednesday.

Kubel missed the game on Wednesday against the Giants, which the team won 4-1. He can be out a maximum of three days, which means the most he can be off the active roster is missing the series opener his team has against the San Diego Padres on Friday.

Arizona does not play on Thursday.

To temporarily replace Kubel on the roster, the team recalled speedy outfielder A.J. Pollock from Triple-A Reno. It will be his second stint with the major league club. He hit .229 with a homer and two doubles during the month he was with the big league team when Chris Young was on the disabled list.

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Kennedy, Goldschmidt Lead D-backs To 4-1 Win Over SF

To be 7-for-14 lifetime against a starting pitcher is pretty solid. To have those numbers include four home runs means you have that pitcher's number. To have those very stats against a pitcher the quality of Tim Lincecum is downright impressive, so Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson came out looking like a genius when he used common sense in putting Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup against Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants Wednesday night.

Goldschmidt hit a solo home run off Lincecum in the top of the sixth inning, and the Diamondbacks went on to beat the Giants 4-1 and avoid a series sweep at AT&T Park. Arizona also ended a four-game losing streak against the Giants, which started after the D-backs won the first four meeting between the NL West rivals.

Ian Kennedy won the battle of struggling staff aces and improved to 4-5, picking up his fifth straight victorious start against the Giants.

Kennedy was at his best in the Giants' sixth, striking out hot-hitting Melky Cabrera and Buster Posey to escape a jam in which runners were at first and second with no outs.

Kennedy might have had a shutout had Justin Upton correctly judged a long fly ball to right field from Gregor Blanco in the fourth inning. Upton headed back toward the wall but appeared to turn too soon, and the ball fell on the warning track without caroming off the wall. Blanco scored on a Ryan Theriot single.

Right field was a bit of an adventure zone for both teams. In the second inning, Blanco made a running catch of a Ryan Roberts fly ball, but dropped the ball moving it from glove to hand, and Miguel Montero came home without sliding. The D-backs took a 1-0 lead on the play.

How good was IPK? He allowed a run on four hits and struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings in what was easily one of his best performances of the season.

Lincecum was almost as good, striking out six and allowing four hits in seven innings. He also walked five.

But when Lincecum left the game, the Diamondbacks struck for two big insurance runs against reliever Steve Edlefsen. After Upton drew a leadoff walk, Montero and Goldschmidt singled sharply up the middle, Goldschmidt's hit driving in Upton. Then after Chris Young hit into a double play, Roberts came up with a big two-out hit to score Montero.

Not to be lost in the win was the defense of left fielder Gerardo Parra, who dived for a catch in the bottom of the eighth but also kept a hit to a long single instead of a double with a short-hop scoop of a one-bouncer earlier in the game. Parra got the call with Jason Kubel on paternity leave.

Winning Streaks And Losing Streaks Against Teams, Baseball Is A Funny Thing

Giants Score Twice In Eighth, Rally For Another Win Over D-backs

The Arizona Diamondbacks had a chance to pick up a game in the NL West standings Tuesday night in San Francisco against the Giants. Instead it was the Giants who scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly by Buster Posey, and second-place San Francisco was the team to pick up up a game on the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

As New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling used to say, the Melk Man delivered. Melky Cabrera had three hits, and Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong worked out of a jam in the sixth that had Diamondbacks on second and third bases with one out in San Francisco's 3-1 win at AT&T Park.

Two unproductive ground balls got the D-backs nothing but Miguel Montero being thrown out at home plate and another out, and after John McDonald was walked intentionally, Arizona starting pitcher Joe Saunders struck out to end the inning.

After Posey's RBI off the D-backs' Bryan Shaw, the Giants got the bases loaded, and Joaquin Arias drove in Cabrera with a fielder's choice groundout for a key insurance run.

The Diamondbacks fell to 12-13 on the road, but they are actually better away from Chase Field. Still, they remained 10 1/2 games behind the Dodgers.

In a pitcher's duel that started with Saunders for the Diamondbacks and Vogelsong for the Giants, the D-backs scored first. Josh Bell singled up the middle with two out, driving in Chris Young.

The Giants tied it on Posey's double to drive in Cabrera, but the sixth inning could have been worse. Reliever Brad Ziegler got out of the jam, though, after Saunders left with runners on first and third. Arias grounded into a rare 1-2-3 double play, Montero reaching to take Ziegler's throw for the force at home and then firing low to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who replays showed scooped the ball after Arias had touched the bag but an out was called.

In his first game of the season as the leadoff man, Aaron Hill went 1-for-5 and struck out three times for the Diamondbacks. He made the last out of the game, striking out on a breaking ball in the dirt and a checked swing that was ruled a swing.

Shaw took the loss to fall to 1-3. The D-backs managed just six hits, and now need a big game from ace Ian Kennedy against Tim Lincecum on Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep.

D-backs Can't Overcome Deficit As Giants Get To Cahill Early, Lose 4-2

Trevor Cahill didn't have the worst start ever but four runs from the Giants were more than enough thanks to a stellar performance from Barry Zito (7 IP, 2 ER, 3 Ks). Outfielder Gregor Blanco might have been the MVP of the battle of the soft-tossers though with two hits, a run, a RBI and difficult catch to protect San Fran's lead and end the game. Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Young each also had promising games reaching base five time combined.

After a quick 1-2-3 inning from the Diamondbacks' bats in the first, the Giants did some serious damage against Cahill, all with two outs. Starting with Blanco taking home in a double steal, San Francisco got three across in a rally that included a triple from Brandon Belt.

Cahill settled in nicely after that, only allowing one run additional run but he was only able to go six innings and the Dbacks starters continue to rely too heavily on their bullpen.

Even so, things Cahill could have been in line for at least a no decision if Justin Upton's ground rule double down the third base line stays in play. With that bad break, the Dbacks were only able to score one in a third inning that had potential to be huge offensively.

John McDonald's pinch hit solo home run in the eighth inning made things interesting but Arizona's rally would come up short with two runners on after Miguel Montero struck out and Ryan Roberts was robbed of a double by Blanco after a solid at-bat.

The D-backs will get another chance again tomorrow at 7:15 PM. San Francisco sends Ryan Vogelsong (3-2) to mound to face Joe Saunders (3-3) as the Giants look to tie up the season series at four wins each.

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