Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) – Gerardo Parra hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run in the eighth inning thanks to a miscommunication and collision in the right-field gap between Nate McLouth and Jason Heyward, helping the Arizona Diamondbacks pull out a 2-1 comeback win over the Atlanta Braves.
Atlanta broke a scoreless tie in the eighth when Heyward led off with a double and scored on Brian McCann’s one-out liner to the right-field corner.
Peter Moylan (2-1) started on the hill in the home half and hit Mark Reynolds to lead off the inning. After a sacrifice bunt, Parra hit a line drive to right-center that stayed in the air for quite some time. Both McLouth and Heyward converged on the ball and it appeared as if no one called it.
The ball hit the heel of McLouth’s glove just as Heyward slid in and upended the center fielder, causing the ball to skip away from the laid-out outfielders and towards the wall.
Parra never stopped running and slid in behind Reynolds for the go-ahead run.
Chad Qualls walked Yunel Escobar to open the ninth before striking out the next two hitters and inducing a game-ending groundout off the bat of Martin Prado to record his 12th save of the season.
It was an unlikely pitchers’ duel between Arizona’s Ian Kennedy and Kenshin Kawakami, though neither factored in the decision.
Kennedy hurled seven scoreless frames, giving up just three hits while walking five to go with six punchouts, but the win went to Aaron Heilman (2-1) despite giving up a run in his inning of relief.
Kawakami threw six innings of shutout ball but remains winless on the season, as the second-year starter scattered four hits and four walks while striking out eight.