Phoenix, AZ – Ian Kennedy tossed seven strong innings and Gerardo Parra belted a grand slam as the Diamondbacks took a 6-4 victory over the Braves in the conclusion of a four-game series at Chase Field on Sunday.
"His stuff was pretty good," said Arizona manager Kirk Gibson about Kennedy, who tossed 111 pitches in the win. "He's going to have an extra day this time. We haven't pushed him too much this year and he felt much better going into the start today."
Kennedy (3-0) surrendered three runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out five. David Hernandez pitched a perfect eighth and closer J.J. Putz recorded his fifth save of the year, despite serving up a one-out homer.
Parra finished with two hits and two runs scored while Kennedy and Aaron Hill plated the other runs to help Arizona avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of Atlanta and a sixth straight loss overall.
Randall Delgado (2-1) lasted just 5 1/3 innings for the Braves, allowing five runs on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts.
Michael Bourn went 3-for-3 and scored twice, Freddie Freeman knocked in two and Juan Francisco added a solo shot for the Braves, who had won five straight and 10 of 11 since an 0-4 start.
Atlanta struck quickly in the first as Bourn led off the game with a double to center field, moved to third on a ground out and finally scored on a sacrifice fly from Freeman to take an early 1-0 lead.
Arizona plated five in the second, all with two outs. Jason Kubel started the rally with a single and Cody Ransom followed with a double. John McDonald was intentionally walked to get to Kennedy, who walked on four pitches to plate Kubel and tie the game.
Parra quickly cleared the bases, belting a 1-0 fastball into the pool in right-center field for a 5-1 Diamondbacks lead.
Bourn scored another run in the third as he singled with one out before coming around to score on Martin Prado's double to left field.
Delgado helped his own cause in the fifth, lifting a one-out single to right before Bourn followed with his third hit of the day. After a groundout moved both runners up, Freeman plated Delgado with a single to center to trim the deficit to 5-3.
Arizona added some insurance in the seventh when Parra singled to center, stole second and came around to score on Aaron Hill's double down the left- field line to extend the margin to 6-3.
In the ninth, Francisco sent a 1-2 splitter over the wall in right to account for the final margin.
Game Notes
Atlanta will head to Los Angeles for a three-game series against the Dodgers starting on Monday. Arizona will finish its 10-game home stand with a three- game set against Philadelphia beginning on Monday...Arizona finished 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left six on base. Atlanta left five runners on and went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
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