Martin Prado singled in a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Atlanta Braves to a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
Nate McLouth hit a three-run homer and Brian McCann added a solo shot for the Braves, who have won four straight.
The Diamondback were leading, 5-4, when they brought in Chad Qualls to close it out. Qualls allowed a leadoff single to Eric Hinske and a bunt single to Omar Infante before McLouth sacrificed the runners along.
Qualls (0-2) then intentionally walked Melky Cabrera before Prado dropped a single into shallow right to plate the winning runs.
Billy Wagner (2-0) came into a tie game in the ninth and struck out Kelly Johnson before Conor Jackson doubled to left. Justin Upton followed with a hit to put Arizona up, 5-4.
The Diamondbacks, who entered with the worst bullpen ERA in the National League at 7.37, watched their relief corps let it get away again when Juan Gutierrez came on in the seventh and allowed McLouth's three-run blast.
The homer marred a strong start from Ian Kennedy, who held the Braves scoreless through six innings before allowing a solo homer to McCann and was charged with two more runs when Gutierrez allowed two inherited runners to score.
Arizona | Atlanta | |
Ian Kennedy | Player | Kenshin Kawakami |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.1 | IP | 4.1 |
5 | Strikeouts | 7 |
7 | Hits | 5 |
4.26 | ERA | 6.23 |
Arizona | Atlanta | |
Justin Upton | Player | Omar Infante |
3 | Hits | 4 |
2 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
4 | TB | 4 |
.600 | Avg | 1.000 |