D-backs’ Kennedy struggles vs. Seattle

Diamondbacks’ ace Ian Kennedy got his second spring training start
Saturday night, and much like his first outing, he struggled.

Kennedy allowed 2 runs in each of the first two innings before
settling down in the 3rd during a 7-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners at
Salt River Fields.

Kennedy allowed 6 hits and 4 earned runs in his 3 innings of work,
while striking out 3 and hitting one Mariners’ hitter.

“I’m really just trying to get my location down,” Kennedy (0-2) said.
“I felt like my fastball in was much better to righties and I wasn’t
leaving anything over the plate. Location is more important for me
right now, especially in the second outing.”

Manager Kirk Gibson was a man of few words following another
Cactus League loss, but did comment on his starter’s performance.

“He was fine, he was working on some things,” he said. “He threw
mostly fastballs, he threw some change-ups later, not many
curveballs. He worked on his move and worked on throwing
inside.”

Kennedy was also not pleased with how his pitch selection shook
out.

“I didn’t get to throw as many offspeed curveballs as I wanted. I
just felt like there was never a chance to at least get one 0-0.

“I don’t know how many more starts I’m going to get, but I’m going
to try and build up. The curveball is going to come. You’ve got to
have that ready to go by the end of spring training.”

Arizona Sports’ Charlie Feinerman contributed to this
report

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