Cardinals 2 - 6 Diamondbacks
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Kennedy, Diamondbacks beat Cardinals in opener

Apr 2, 2013 - 6:01 AM

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Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Ian Kennedy threw seven solid innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks pounded out 15 hits to win their seventh straight season opener, this time topping the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2, at Chase Field.

Kennedy (1-0) struck out eight and allowed two runs on five hits and a walk for Arizona, which is trying to rebound from last year's disappointing third- place finish in the NL West.

"(Kennedy) was awesome. I don't know how else to explain it," Diamondback manager Kirk Gibson said. "He just had everything working."

Martin Prado, Arizona's prized offseason acquisition, hit two doubles, scored twice and knocked in a run, while A.J. Pollock went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI in his first appearance on Opening Day.

Gerardo Parra added four hits, including three doubles, for a Diamondbacks offense that knocked out Adam Wainwright (0-1) after six innings, as the newly-signed ace was touched for four runs -- three earned -- on 11 hits

Daniel Descalso and Matt Holliday each drove in a run for the Cardinals, who were within one win of making consecutive World Series appearances last year, as they lost Game 7 of the NL Championship Series to the San Francisco Giants.

The Cardinals scored in their first at-bat on consecutive one-outs doubles by Matt Carpenter and Holliday, but they recorded just one hit over the next five frames.

Arizona pushed ahead with four straight hits in the fourth. Jason Kubel doubled in Miguel Montero, and Pollock bounced one in front of a diving Jon Jay in center to bring in Paul Goldschmidt and Kubel for a 3-1 lead.

"I just didn't execute pitches," Wainwright said of the fourth frame. "They made me pay that inning."

Prado's heads-up baserunning added another run in the fifth. After doubling to right-center, Prado rounded third when Aaron Hill sent a broken-bat dribbler up the middle. Descalso ranged over to field the ball, but his short-hop to first got away from Allen Craig, allowing Prado to race around and score without a play at the plate.

Kennedy, making his third straight Opening Day start for Arizona, had retired 18 of 20 hitters before Yadier Molina doubled with two away in the seventh. Descalso followed with a single to make it 4-2, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

Prado, acquired in a trade that sent former cornerstone Justin Upton to the Atlanta Braves, provided two insurance runs in the bottom half, first doubling in Parra, then scoring on Montero's sacrifice fly.

Game Notes

Arizona dropped five of six to St. Louis last year ... The Cardinals, who according to BaseballReference.com were playing in their 20,000th game, had won four straight season openers on the road ... Wainwright was making his third Opening Day start. He signed a five-year extension believed to be worth over $100 million last month ... On Tuesday, Arizona's Trevor Cahill will go up against Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia.






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