Ian Kennedy steps up when Diamondbacks needed him most

Riding a six game losing streak, the Arizona Diamondbacks looked to their ace to make it stop.

And stop it he did.

Ian Kennedy pitched seven innings, allowing just six hits and two walks while striking out eight as the D-backs topped the Nationals 2-0 and, at least for one night, seemed to have righted the ship.

“That’s big,” D-backs GM Kevin Towers said of Kennedy’s performance. “That’s usually what separates your great ones from your good ones. The guys that take the ball and they’re able to end those losing streaks.”

Towers likened Kennedy to Kevin Brown, one of the most dominant pitchers in the late 90s/early 2000s, with his ability to step up when the team needs him.

“When you think of Ian Kennedy, what his strengths are he makes big pitches when he has to against middle parts of the lineup,” Towers said. “He’s smart, he doesn’t throw anything down the middle, he keeps them off balance and he showed it once again that there’s nothing in his way that he can’t end up getting the job done.”

And, if Towers could pick something about Kennedy that has surprised him, it’s his ability to dominate without lighting up the radar gun.

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