Ian Kennedy struggles in start against former club

Padres starting pitcher Ian Kennedy returned to Chase Field for the first time since his trade to San Diego July 31, and it wasn’t pretty.

Kennedy surrendered six earned runs on six hits and walked five while allowing a home run and striking out three in 4.1 innings of work.

“It was difficult,” Kennedy said of facing his former teammates. “I knew it was going to be a little bit different other than normal games but you never really can prepare yourself for something like that. It’s really tough to do that.

“I’m glad I got it out of the way and I know I’m going to have to face them again later on this year. Yeah, it was a lot tougher than I thought it would be.”

Kennedy was working with an early lead after his team scored three in the top of the first off David Holmberg, who was making his major league debut, but he wasted no time giving the runs back when Gerardo Parra launched a three-run shot into right field in the bottom of the second inning.

“You want to win because you know I’m on the other team now so you want to win bad,” Kennedy explained. “My team put me in position to do that early on, scoring three runs and then battling back we scored more later on. It was definitely a crazy game.”

Kennedy is a likeable guy and clearly still has friends on the team. When he arrived Monday and was on the field during batting practice, nearly every D-back player went to chat with him and give him a hug or a handshake.

“It’s not like your normal game,” Kennedy said. “First of all, I’ve never faced any of them personally. You see them watching T.V. when you’re inside or on the field but when you’re actually out there and they’re your friends, it’s like an intrasquad game but amped up even more because it’s a real game and you’re on the other team now.”

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