Don't look now, but the best one-two pitching punch in the National League just may belong to the Arizona Diamondbacks. A night after Ian Kennedy won his 17th game, Daniel Hudson followed up with a gem of his own Monday night against the Colorado Rockies at Chase Field, as the D-Backs beat the Rockies 5-1.
The win gave Hudson his 14th on the season. Together, Kennedy and Hudson have won 31 games, tops in the National League and second in the majors behind only the Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander (20 wins) and Max Scherzer (13). Meanwhile, the D-Backs have won seven straight and 10 straight at home, and they are pulling away from the San Francisco Giants in the National League West. The Giants lost at home to the Cubs and now trail the D-Backs by five games with 27 to play.
Ryan Roberts led off the game with a home run (his 17th), and the D-Backs never looked back. Hudson truly dominated the Rockies, giving up no runs over seven innings. He gave up only three hits, walked three, and struck out eight. The Rockies didn't score a run until the top of the ninth inning, when Troy Tulowitzski was hit by a pitch and eventually came around to score.
In the end, it was the D-Backs' ninth win in 13 games against the pre-season favorite Colorado Rockies.
In addition to Roberts' home run, four other D-Backs drove in runs Monday night: Miguel Montero, Paul Goldschmidt, new shortstop John McDonald, and Hudson. With the Hudson single and RBI, Arizona became the best-hitting pitching staff in the majors with 51 hits and 30 RBI.
The D-Backs and Giants have six games left against each other, including three this weekend in San Francisco. The Giants are the lowest-scoring team in the majors in August.
Tonight, the Rockies' Aaron Cook (4-7, 5.47 earned-run average) will face D-Backs rookie Wade Miley (1-1, 4.50). On his last time out, Miley gave up no runs in six innings of work against the Washington Nationals.
First pitch is 6:40 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Net. Radio: KTAR 620 AM. More info: www.dbacks.com.
