Struggles continue for Kennedy, D-backs
May 9, 2012, 3:45 PM | Updated: 4:58 pm
Ian Kennedy is the ace of the Arizona Diamondbacks’
pitching staff.
The right-hander won a National League-high 21 games a
year ago, and like number one starters are supposed to,
put a stop to four losing streaks of three or more games,
beating the likes of Cliff Lee, Clayton Kershaw and Zack
Greinke in the process.
With the Diamondbacks in the throes
of a 5-game losing streak, Kennedy pitched seven solid
innings in a win over Randall Delgado and the Atlanta
Braves on April 22.
Going into Tuesday night’s game, the Diamondbacks had lost
three straight and once again turned to Kennedy to stop
the bleeding. But this time, the IPK band-aid wasn’t
enough. Kennedy yielded 6 earned runs over 7 innings,
including a second inning grand slam to Carlos
Beltran in the Cardinals’ 6-1 win at Chase Field. It was
only the third grand slam Kennedy has allowed in his
career, and the first since Cardinals’ slugger Lance
Berkman clubbed one against him last April.
“It just really sucks when you feel like you put your team
down in a big, big hole, it’s harder to come back out of
it,” Kennedy said. “And that’s my responsibility.”
The Cardinals jumped on Kennedy early. Leadoff man John
Jay tripled and scored on a Beltran solo homer in the
first.
But after the four-spot posted by St. Louis in the second
inning, Kennedy settled down. In fact, he retired the
last 13 Cardinal hitters he faced.
“I felt like I was in a better rhythm later on,” Kennedy
said. “I didn’t really have that in the first two
innings.”
Kennedy has now lost back-to-back starts for the first
time since a 4-game losing streak in July of 2010, and his
personal 10-game winning streak at Chase Field ended as
well.
The Diamondbacks have lost four straight and have fallen
to 14-17, 5.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the
National League West. Manager Kirk Gibson says the team
will maintain its positive approach.
“What’s the other choice,” Gibson asked. “The other
choice would never even be in my vocabulary.
“We went through this last year. We still have ability.
There’s really no excuse, it’s just the way it is and we
will come out of it together. It’s not going to be one
guy who is going to carry the torch. We can get on a
roll, it can change quickly.”
Arizona Sports’ Kyndra de St. Aubin contributed to this
report
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