Ian Kennedy sparks as Arizona Diamondbacks defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 - MLB Update
Arizona Diamondbacks’ starting pitcher, Ian Kennedy had a memorable day with the ball as he pitched eight shut-out innings with an ERA of 2.88 in the Diamondbacks’ 1-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Chase Field, Arizona on September 19.
During first five innings, the batters seemed powerless as they were unable to hit scoring shots. Justin Upton struck a single-run drive towards left-field but Aaron Hill, Paul Goldschmidt and Gerardo Parra each ground out without scoring any run at the
bottom of the first inning. Similarly at the top of the third inning, Jeff Karstens singled off left-field but Pedro Alvarez and Ronny Cedeno both ground out while Alex Presley lined out without adding even a single run.
In the fourth, Andrew McCutchen walked and stole second base but Neil walker popped out while Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick both struck-out without giving any run to the Pirates. At the bottom of fifth inning, Parra and Hill both were again ground out while
Kennedy struck-out swinging. At last, Diamondbacks scored their initial run in the sixth inning to get a 1-0 lead.
Upton hit a grand slam for a one-run homer (387 feet) towards left-field to give an edge to the Diamondbacks. The rest of the three innings again score-less for both teams. In the eighth inning, Ryan Doumit hit for Cedeno and James McDonald moved to short-stop
but Doumit, Alvarez and Jason Jaramillo each struck-out against the tricky pitches.
Upton said, “We can't relax now. There's no point in relaxing. We have to finish it off.”
Kennedy gave away just one hit and a solo walk on his 113 pitches. He had 12 strike-outs on his respective pitched innings. Speaking to interpreters, Kennedy said, “This is the most important part, which is winning games, taking away that magic number and
clinching here pretty soon.”
Pirates’ manager, Clint Hurdle also praised Kennedy in his statement and said, “Our guys were trying to stay after it all night against him. He was very, very sharp.”
Presley tripled to deep right-field at the top of ninth inning but Garrett Jones and Neil Walker both ground out without adding a tie run for Pirates. As a result, Diamondbacks continued their winning streak and were on top 1-0 in the three-game series against
Pirates at Arizona.
Tags: