Ian Kennedy’s seven-game winning streak came to an end on Thursday evening, as the Arizona Diamondbacks lost their second straight to drop their series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Kennedy started out strong in the first inning, taking down the first three batters he faced. However, early in the bottom of the second, Kennedy and Ryan Roberts collided going for a pop up from Ross Gload. Kennedy seemed to favor his right arm from that point on and it appeared to throw off his rhythm and pace. Kennedy gave up three runs over the second and third innings before a rain delay ended his night.
After two-plus hours waiting for the rain to pass, the game started again with Micah Owings filling in for Kennedy. Owings gave up a run of his own before calming down and lasting through the sixth. Brian Shaw, Joe Paterson, and David Hernandez helped shut down the Phillies over the final three frames, but it didn’t matter.
The D-backs had plenty of trouble putting up offense behind their shaky pitching. The team’s inability to score has been a theme of the series, with Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Vance Worley each taking a turn locking down one of the National League’s more potent hitting squads. Even against relief pitching after the rain delay, Arizona struggled to get on the scoreboard until Paul Goldschmidt homered in the top of the eighth.
Luckily for the D-backs, the San Francisco Giants’ offensive struggles continued and they were shut out by the Atlanta Braves in a 1-0 loss that kept Arizona up 2.5 games in the NL West standings. However, the Snakes now head to Georgia for three games against the very same Braves.
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