Diamondbacks 3 - 2 Royals
Final
  for this game

D-Backs clip Royals

Jun 23, 2011 - 4:39 AM

Video

Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Xavier Nady knocked in a run and scored the eventual game-winning run in the fifth inning as Arizona held on to defeat Kansas City, 3-2, in the continuation of a three-game interleague series.

Ian Kennedy (8-2) threw six innings for the win, allowing one run while scattering eight hits and two walks in the D-Backs' fourth victory in six games.

Jeff Francis (3-8) allowed three runs on five hits through seven innings in the loss. He also struck out two and did not walk a batter as the Royals dropped their fourth straight.

J.J. Putz threw a scoreless inning to earn his 19th save of the year, but it was also an eventful one. It did not seem to be that way at first, as he fanned Brayan Pena and got Alcides Escobar to fly out.

Chris Getz came up next and legged out an infield single and stole two consecutive bases during a Melky Cabrera at-bat to put the tying run on third base. Cabrera eventually worked a walk, but Eric Hosmer popped a first-pitch fastball to short to end the game.

Arizona was held to just one hit through the first four innings, but took the lead in the fifth. Wily Mo Pena reached first on a fielder's choice and Miguel Montero followed with a base hit to put runners on the corners. Nady then doubled to score Pena, and Willie Bloomquist followed with an RBI single to bring home Montero. Ryan Roberts came up next and laid down a squeeze bunt that plated Nady and gave the D-Backs a 3-1 lead.

"Those are things we've been working on all spring training and we only had five hits, so we were very efficient with that inning and we went to our bullpen," said Arizona manager Kirk Gibson.

The Royals got a run back in the seventh after Gets singled with one down and came around to score on Hosmer's two-out triple into the right-center field gap.

Kansas City struck first after Getz and Cabrera led off the third inning with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. Hosmer then grounded into a double play, but Getz scored to give the Royals a 1-0 lead.

"They scored three on five hits and we scored two on 11. We just couldn't get a big hit in a situation," said Royals manager Ned Yost.

Game Notes

After the fifth inning, Arizona did not record another hit...Royals left fielder Alex Gordon extended his hit streak to nine games with a sixth-inning double...Kansas City went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base while Arizona went 2-for-3 and stranded just two.






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