The Arizona Diamondbacks could only muster five hits against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. Fortunately, they made them count, defeating the Royals 3-2 at Kaufman Stadium.
Ian Kennedy was impressive once again, going six innings and giving up only one earned run. With the win, Kennedy improves his record to 8-2 and his ERA to 2.90.
The bullpen was far from perfect, with Micah Owings giving up a run in the seventh and J.J. Putz nearly giving away the game in the bottom of the ninth before retiring future superstar Eric Hosmer with two on and two out.
Xavier Nady, Willie Bloomquist and Ryan Roberts all added RBI in the fifth inning, providing all the run support Kennedy would need.
It wasn't pretty, but Arizona keeps finding ways to win. At 41-34, they now own a half game advantage over the San Francisco Giants to lead the NL West, who are still in action against the Minnesota Twins.
The Diamondbacks go for the series sweep tomorrow at 5:10 PM Pacific time. Kirk Gibson will send Daniel Hudson (8-5, 3.56) to the mound to face Felipe Paulino (0-4, 4.10). Will the Diamondbacks bust out the brooms? With a tough series against Detroit coming up, another win is much needed.