In a battle of two of the most disappointing teams in the National League, the Arizona Diamondbacks lost again.
This time it was at the hands of the Chicago Cubs in a 9-4 loss Monday afternoon at Chase Field.
Wins are seemingly getting harder and harder to come by these days for the Snakes, who have lost three in a row since winning Kirk Gibson's managerial debut.
D-Backs starter Ian Kennedy, pitching on a rare nine days rest, was noticeably rusty as he was leaving meatballs all around the plate for the Cubs hitters to crush.
Kennedy labored through 5.2 innings while giving up seven earned runs and nine hits. He did strike out six and retired ten straight batters at one point, but also surrendered four runs early to put the Snakes in a hole.
In the leadoff spot for the D-Backs, Chris Young excelled again while rapping out two hits and scoring twice.
But the team just couldn't come up with the clutch hit they needed (and have failed to produce most of the season). The Snakes had the bases loaded three times (in the first, third and sixth innings) but only managed two runs.
The killer came in the third when Mark Reynolds hit into an inning-ending double play to halt any momentum the D-Backs may have had.
Kelly Johnson led the offense with two RBIs while Miguel Montero and Adam LaRoche each had one, but the early hole and inability to produce a timely hit led to another loss.
The D-Backs, on pace for over 100 losses, take on the Cubs in game two of the three-game series tonight. Barry Enright (1-0, 1.80 ERA) makes his second career major league start against Carlos Silva (8-2, 2.96 ERA), who has been the best Chicago starter this season.
First pitch is at 11:15 a.m. TV: Fox Sports Arizona. Radio: KTAR 620-AM. More info: dbacks.com.