The Arizona Diamondbacks had themselves a nice week this week, winning five of their seven games and putting up a whole lot of runs in the process. The team averaged 7.3 runs a game during the stretch and the offensive load was pretty well shared.
Of course, Jason Kubel's red-hot bat helped things out and for that, he gets to be the Arizona Diamondbacks Player of the Week. The Pitcher of the Week goes to Ian Kennedy for his win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
Kubel missed four games with a sore hamstring, but that didn't stop him from coming back into the lineup and making his presence felt in a big way. He had two home runs in his first game back, added three in a game against the Houston Astros, and added one more a game later, just to be safe. He batted .409 at the plate this week with 11 RBIs - Kubel is currently leading the National League in that category. He has proved to be the D-backs' best offseason pickup, and hasn't even be too bad defensively, despite concerns that his big bat would leave a big hole in the outfield.
As for Kennedy, the man has struggled so much this year that it was a relief to see him return to form in a victory that seemed to require no sweat from Ian's brow. He only gave up eight hits and one run over his eight innings of work. He had seven strikeouts with no walks. It was a typical 2011 Kennedy performance, wherein he utilized his fastball command to maintain control of the game. He has a long way to go before he's "back" to his 2011 form, but this game was a nice memory.
For those keeping track at home, the scores:
Player of the Week awards:
Parra (1), Kubel (2), Roberts (1), Goldschmidt (4), Bloomquist (1), Montero (1), Hill (4)
Pitcher of the Week awards:
Saunders (1), Cahill (3), Corbin (1), Miley (5), Collmenter (2), Shaw (1), Kennedy (1)