D-backs true to form in win over St. Louis

Posted: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 7:00 pm

By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks opened their season with a textbook example of the way their remodeled offense is supposed to play.
No home runs — and lots of base hits.
The Diamondbacks used 15 hits, seven of them doubles, to beat the St.  Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Monday night.
“The team was in synch tonight,” Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. “Everybody picked everybody up.”
There was plenty of offense for Ian Kennedy, who struck out eight in seven innings. Kennedy (1-0) allowed two runs on five hits with one walk.
“He just had everything working, the fastball pumped up to 94 (mph),” Gibson said. “That’s kind of the old Ian we saw a couple of years ago.”
St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright (0-1) went six innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on 11 hits. He struck out six with no walks.
Arizona’s Gerardo Parra, batting leadoff, matched his career best with four hits, three of them doubles. Rookie A.J. Pollock was 3-for-4, including a two-run double, and Martin Prado doubled twice with an RBI and two runs scored for the Diamondbacks.
“I’m happy because it’s a good team,” Parra said. “Maybe we don’t have a lot of power, but we have a lot of fast guys, a lot of contact guys.”
Matt Holliday had an RBI double and Daniel Descalso a run-scoring single for St. Louis.
The Diamondbacks’ seven doubles were more than they had in any game in the last two seasons.
Kennedy, 15-12 last year after going 21-4 in 2011, dominated after giving up consecutive one-out doubles to Matt Carpenter and Holliday to put St. Louis up 1-0 in the first.
David Hernandez threw a perfect eighth and Brad Ziegler did the same in the ninth for the Diamondbacks.
Arizona scored three times off Wainwright in the fourth.
After one-out singles by Miguel Montero and Paul Goldschmidt, Jason Kubel lofted an RBI double to right-center to tie it at 1. Pollock, starting because of injuries to Adam Eaton and Cody Ross, lined a double off the glove of center fielder Jon Jay to bring in two and Arizona led 3-1.
“The fourth inning was weird because I was driving the ball real well early on, but the fourth inning I just didn’t drive it anymore and they made good swings,” Wainwright said. “A couple of good swings on their part and a couple of well-placed fly balls with that huge outfield, there is nothing you can do about it. That is why you have to keep the ball on the ground.”
The Diamondbacks added an unearned run on second baseman Descalso’s throwing error in the fifth. Prado, acquired from Atlanta in the Justin Upton trade, doubled to deep right-center, then Aaron Hill hit a slow grounder to second. Descalso threw in the dirt trying to throw to first and the ball bounced off the glove of first baseman Allen Craig as Prado raced home to make it 4-1.
Arizona got two more in the seventh. With Fernando Salas on the mound, Parra and Prado doubled, then Hill singled. Marc Rzepczynski relieved Salas and gave up an RBI sacrifice fly to Montero.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Wainwright “was pretty good” despite the results.
“He had a lot of life on his fastball, and he established that early,” Matheny said. “They put some tough at-bats against him. Real good pitches he made once he got his curveball going, and they were just fouling them off.”
Parra lined a shot to the mound in the third, but Wainwright was able to get his glove on it, deflected the hit off his shoulder. He said afterward he was fine.

Published in The Messenger 4.2.13