Atlanta, GA – Chris Young cracked the tie-breaking home run in the top of the ninth inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks edged the Atlanta Braves, 3-2, at Turner Field.
"It was just one of those types of games that we needed to find a way to win," remarked Young. "It was nice to get the hit. It's nice to get a win leaving here."
Braves closer Craig Kimbrel (0-1) got Aaron Hill to ground out for the first out of the frame, but then served up a middle-in fastball to Young, who got his arms extended on the pitch and smashed it into the third row beyond the wall in left-center field.
Before Thursday, Kimbrel had not allowed a home run since the Marlins' Omar Infante tagged him for a two-run shot on Sept. 19, 2011.
"He's been the most consistent pitcher in baseball," said Braves catcher Brian McCann about Kimbrel. "You tip your hat to Chris Young on that. He put together an unbelievable at-bat."
David Hernandez (1-1) picked up the win with a scoreless eighth inning and J.J. Putz came on in the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order to lock down his 14th save of the season for the D-Backs, who salvaged the final contest of the three-game series.
Highly-touted pitching prospect Trevor Bauer made his major league debut for the Diamondbacks and allowed two runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts over four innings.
Bauer, 21, was the third overall selection by the Diamondbacks in the 2011 draft and is the third-youngest pitcher to make his first major league start in a D-Backs uniform.
Jason Kubel laced a two-run double in the victory.
McCann ripped an RBI double and Michael Bourn added a sacrifice fly for the Braves, who have dropped thee of their last five.
The Braves opened the scoring in the third with a two-out rally. Bourn walked to start the inning, but was erased on a double play groundout by Jason Heyward. Bauer then walked Martin Prado and McCann followed with a double off the top of the wall in right field to bring home the Braves left fielder.
Andrelton Simmons doubled off the glove of Justin Upton in right field to start the Atlanta fourth. He moved to second on a perfectly-placed sacrifice bunt by Atlanta starter Jair Jurrjens and scored on a sacrifice fly by Bourn.
The D-Backs battled back to tie the game in the sixth. Willie Bloomquist slapped a base hit and Upton walked around a Stephen Drew groundout. Kubel then brought both runners home with a one-out double into the right-center field gap.
The Braves had a fantastic opportunity to take the lead in the eighth against Hernandez when Chipper Jones led off the frame with a walk and moved to second on a questionable balk call. After Dan Uggla fanned, Freddie Freeman drew the intentional free pass to put runners on first and second. Hernandez came back to strike out Simmons and pinch-hitter Eric Hinske to end the inning.
Game Notes
With the loss, the Braves were denied their fifth series sweep of the season and what would have been their second straight at home...Arizona snapped a six-game skid against the Braves at Turner Field...Jurrjens allowed two runs on six hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings...Atlanta went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base.
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