Ian Kennedy did it again, getting his 19th win of the season (fourth in a row), this time over the San Diego Padres, and leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to their 14th win in 16 games. Kennedy pitched 7.2 innings, allowing one run and striking out 11, setting a season-high. The National League Cy Young candidate seems well on his way to a 20-win season; he needs only one more with four starts to go.
Kennedy was looking good to pitch at least eight innings, if not a complete game, with 87 pitches through seven scoreless. But he did not last long in the eighth after giving up back-to-back singles to open the inning, one of which led to the Pads getting on the board. Brad Ziegler closed out the inning and J.J. Putz came in to get his 38th save of the season and his 17th in a row.
While the D-backs offense was not firing quite as effectively as it had been during their series against the Colorado Rockies, they managed enough. Justin Upton hit his 29th home run of the season – a solo shot in the sixth inning before he left the game "due to illness." Paul Goldschmidt added a homer of his own in the fourth. Kennedy, after being hit with his first pitch of the season, was able to score after a groundout by Aaron Hill and a throwing error by former D-back Orlando Hudson. Hill is now hitting .375 as a D-back and in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak. Miguel Montero continued his own 16-game streak, and added an RBI single in the seventh.
The victory puts Arizona 7.5 games over the idle San Francisco Giants in the National League West with 18 games to play.