After trading away second baseman Kelly Johnson, the Diamondbacks and Kirk Gibson had to get creative with their lineup.
Gibson moved Ryan Roberts to second base and inserted Sean Burroughs into the lineup at the hot corner, and his decision paid off in a big way as Burroughs hit a decisive two-run home run in the seventh inning to lead Arizona over Washington, 2-0.
Ian Kennedy earned his 16th victory of the 2011 season on Tuesday night against the Nationals in our nation's capitol. He went seven scoreless innings, but his shining moment came in the bottom of the fifth inning.
With the bases loaded and one out, Kennedy was in a precarious situation, facing the heart of the Washington order. Ryan Zimmerman and Mike Morse are an impressive duo, and Arizona fans had to be quite nervous.
Kennedy, on the other hand, was unfazed. Instead of giving up key runs in this situation, the D-backs' young ace stepped up and struck out both star players, utilizing both the late life on his fastball and the nasty break of his curve to send the Nationals back into their dugout without scoring.
Arizona hasn't solved any of their offensive woes, getting only six hits on the game. The important thing is that they broke their six game losing streak and can focus on winning the series against the Nationals over the next two nights.
A scary moment happened for the D-backs in the fourth inning as Justin Upton was hit on the elbow by a Jordan Zimmermann pitch. While he appeared to be okay, he was replaced in the next inning by Collin Cowgill. Hopefully this was just a precautionary move, and not a signal of something worse.
Tomorrow is the third game of four in Washington. Daniel Hudson takes the mound for Arizona, while Washington counters with Livan Hernandez.