When it was announced that Jonathan Sanchez would be taking the mound for the Rockies on Monday night, the prevailing thought was that it might be a long night for the defense of the Rockies. The Diamondbacks had scored 33 total runs in their last three games and it was a hot streak they did not plan on letting a division rival end.
The night started off swell for Arizona as Paul Goldschmidt continued his dominance against first pitches in at-bats by smoking a ball to left field in the second inning. Ian Kennedy held that one run lead until something bizarre occurred in the fourth.
A pivotal point in the game came during the bottom of the fourth inning when Goldschmidt was on second base and Justin Upton was right behind him on first with no outs. Miguel Montero proceeded to hit what seemed to be a double off of the right field wall. There was a mass amount of confusion on the base pads, causing Goldschmidt to halt between second and third. That allowed the Rockies to get Montero out at first and no runs scored.
But with two outs, who would have known that the Diamondbacks' ace, Ian Kennedy, would have come to the plate and hit a huge triple, scoring Goldschmidt, Upton and the previously intentionally walked, Ryan Roberts. Willie Bloomquist then hit a double, knocking in Kennedy and making the score 5-0. Kennedy recorded his first career triple and became the first ever Diamondbacks pitcher to get a triple with the bases loaded.
A sacrifice fly by Ryan Roberts in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded put the dagger in the Rockies, making the score 6-3. Carlos Gonzalez hit a single home run in the top of the ninth off of reliever Mike Zagurski, but the Rockies' comeback fell short.
As for Kennedy's pitching line, well, that was pretty good, too. He gave up a home run and a double to Josh Rutledge, giving Rutledge his first career homer. Other than that, he allowed five total hits in 8 innings of work with seven strikeouts. His ERA is now 4.20 on the year and his record improves to 8-8.
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