Maybe the Arizona Diamondbacks are simply prolonging their inevitable elimination from the postseason that more than likely will happen this month. But in the meantime, they made things a little more difficult for a division rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, with a 1-0 win at Chase Field Tuesday night.
The Dodgers are trying to move past the St. Louis Cardinals for an NL wild card spot. But they couldn't gain any ground thanks to D-backs pitcher Ian Kennedy, who shut out Los Angeles on four hits over 7 1/3 innings. Kennedy was in such control that he struck out six and did not walk a batter, and he also got some defensive help from left fielder Jason Kubel and second baseman Aaron Hill.
Kubel took at least extra bases and an RBI from the Dodgers' Luis Cruz with a catch right at the wall, and later in the game, Hill caught a hard line drive headed for the right-center field gap from Andre Ethier to take away a hit.
Miguel Montero's one-out double in the seventh inning off Clayton Kershaw drove in Paul Goldschmidt from first base, and even Montero was thrown out by Matt Kemp after a fly ball to center field, that lone run was all the Diamondbacks needed.
Kennedy improved to 13-11 and 5-1 against L.A. in his last seven starts against the Dodgers. The D-backs are 11-6 against the Dodgers in 2012.
David Hernandez struck out Adrian Gonzalez looking with two out and a runner on second base in the top of the ninth to end the game.
Arizona (70-72) won a 1-0 game for the first time this season, and tries to sting the Dodgers again Wednesday against starter Aaron Harang. The Dodgers dropped to 74-68 and look far from a team that will make the postseason at present.