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Kennedy, D-backs top Rockies

Jul 24, 2012 - 6:30 AM Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Ian Kennedy fired eight innings of two-run ball and added a three-run triple as the Arizona Diamondbacks downed the Colorado Rockies, 6-3, in the opener of a three-game set at Chase Field.

Kennedy (8-8) yielded just five hits and struck out seven without walking a batter in his second-consecutive eight-inning start for Arizona.

"I think that he expects them as well," said Arizona manager Kirk Gibson of Kennedy's last two starts. "It's not gonna happen all the time but it's good to see in back-to-back games. It shows consistency."

J.J. Putz retired all three batters he faced in the ninth to nail down his 18th save of the season.

Kennedy clubbed his first career triple with the bases loaded in the fourth, while Paul Goldschmidt added a solo shot in the second to lead the D-backs to their seventh straight home victory.

Jonathan Sanchez (0-1) made his first start for the Rockies after being acquired from the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Jeremy Guthrie on July 20.

The left-hander struggled to a 1-6 record with a 7.76 earned run average in 12 starts with the Royals and his hardships continued despite the change of scenery as he allowed five runs on six hits and four walks over four frames.

Josh Rutledge belted his first career home run and scored twice, while Carlos Gonzalez added a solo shot in the ninth, but the Rockies lost for the fifth time in their last six games.

Goldschmidt led off the second with a blast into the left-field seats to provide the home team with a 1-0 advantage before they added to their lead with a four-run fourth inning.

Goldschmidt and Justin Upton each walked to start the frame before Miguel Montero singled to right, but was thrown at trying to move to second.

Chris Young followed with a pop out for the second out of the inning and Sanchez elected to walk Ryan Roberts to face Kennedy with the bases loaded.

Kennedy made Sanchez pay for the free pass as he ripped a bases-clearing triple into deep center field to give the D-backs a 4-1 lead.

"I've never seen him hit a ball that hard in BP," joked Gibson.

Willie Bloomquist's RBI double to left capped the four-run frame.

"He had a momentary lapse and made a bad pitch to Ian Kennedy, who I believe was hitting .034 at the time he took the swing and he hit a bases-clearing triple," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "Followed by the Bloomquist base hit, next thing you know they got four runs on the board."

Rutledge's homer came with two outs in the fifth and he later added a double to start the eighth before scoring on a two-out single from Dexter Fowler.

Roberts' sacrifice fly in the bottom half restored Arizona's four-run lead, but Gonzalez crushed a fastball from Mike Zagurski into the left-field seats to lead off the ninth.

After a walk to Michael Cuddyer, Putz entered and popped out Tyler Colvin before striking out Ramon Hernandez and Rutledge to end the game.

Game Notes

Sanchez spent his first six major league seasons in the National League West with San Francisco and won a career-high 13 games during the Giants' run to the 2010 World Series title. He fell to 7-7 in 20 career appearances (17 starts) against Arizona...Kennedy is now 3-0 over his last seven starts against the Rockies. He had just seven RBI over 181 career plate appearances before tonight.