KENNEDY DAZZLES TWINS
K's 14, Pads Combine on 1-Hitter
SAN DIEGO, May 20 (AP) - Ian Kennedy turned in one of the most dominant outings
of the big league season, fanning 14 batters in seven innings and serving as the
anchor of a combined one-hit shutout as the San Diego Padres blanked the
Minnesota Twins 5-0 at Petco Park. Kennedy is the third pitcher this season to
fan 14 in a single game, tying Garrett Richards of the Los Angeles Angels (April
9 against Seattle) and Tony Cingrani of Cincinnati (April 30, against the
Chicago Cubs) for the high mark on the season. Kennedy carried a perfect game
into the sixth inning before issuing a walk and took a no-hitter two outs into
the seventh before surrendering a double to Kurt Suzuki. It was the only
Minnesota safety of the game.
Kennedy retired the first 16 Twins hitters he faced before issuing a free pass
to Aaron Hicks with one out in the sixth. Pinch hitter Chris Herrmann followed
by reaching on an error charged to Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera, who botched
the throw to second on a would-be double play grounder, putting runners on first
and second. But Kennedy struck out Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer to end the threat.
Kennedy got the first two outs in the seventh before Suzuki ended his no-hit bid
with a double to right-center on an 0-2 pitch. Undaunted, Kennedy retired Jason
Kubel on a routine fly to right to end the inning and left the mound to a
standing ovation from the partisan crowd.
It had been a rough start to the season for Kennedy, who entered the game a
disappointing 2-6 with a 5.51 ERA. But the right-hander was in complete control
on this day. At one point, Kennedy struck out seven of eight batters he faced.
The Padres gave Kennedy some breathing room in the very first inning.
Chris Denorfia led off with a double into the right field corner and advanced to
third on Cabrerra's fly out to the warning track in left. Twins starter
Kevin Correia then uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Denorfia with the game's first
run. After Seth Smith flied out, Chase Headley drew a walk from Correia
and advanced to second on Will Venable's infield single. Jedd Gyorko then
lined a base hit to center, scoring Headley to give San Diego a 2-0 lead.
The Padres added a string of single runs in the middle innings to widen their
lead. Denorfia led off the fifth with his second two-bagger of the game,
was sacrificed to third by Cabrera and scored one out later on Headley's
double. In the sixth, Gyorko drew a lead-off free pass from Minnesota
reliever Anthony Swarzak, moved to second one out later when Yasmani Grandal
walked, took third when a walk to Kennedy loaded the bases and scored when
Swarzak issued his fourth base on balls of the inning to Denorfia. In the
seventh, Headley led off with his third home run of the season to account for
the final San Diego tally.
When Kennedy completed the seventh, having thrown 110 pitches, he was lifted for
reliever Donn Roach who walked the first batter he faced--Eduardo
Escobar--leading off the eighth. He then induced a double play ball from
Hicks and easily set down the next four batters he faced to end the game.
5/20/2014, Min14-SD14, PETCO Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2014 Twins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 2014 Padres 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 x 5 8 1 9 1 Twins AB R H BI AVG Padres AB R H BI AVG Dozier 2b 4 0 0 0 .247 Denorfia rf 4 2 2 0 .240 Mauer 1b 4 0 0 0 .228 Cabrera,E ss 2 0 0 1 .214 Plouffe 3b 4 0 0 0 .270 Smith,S lf 2 0 0 0 .231 Parmelee rf 3 0 0 0 .103 Hundley ph 1 0 0 0 .268 Suzuki,K c 3 0 1 0 .231 Maybin cf 0 0 0 0 .228 Kubel lf 3 0 0 0 .210 Headley 3b 3 2 2 2 .278 Escobar,Edu ss 2 0 0 0 .301 Venable cf 4 0 1 0 .236 Hicks,A cf 2 0 0 0 .257 Gyorko 2b 3 1 2 1 .190 Correia p 1 0 0 0 .000 Alonso 1b 4 0 0 0 .223 Herrmann ph 1 0 0 0 .250 Grandal c 3 0 1 0 .193 Swarzak p 0 0 0 0 .000 Roach p 0 0 0 0 .333 Duensing p 0 0 0 0 .000 Kennedy p 1 0 0 0 .286 Colabello ph 1 0 0 0 .208 Rivera c 1 0 0 0 .206 Fien p 0 0 0 0 .000 28 5 8 4 28 0 1 0 Twins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Correia L 4-4 5.0 6 3 3 2 1 92 55 5.09 Swarzak 0.2 0 1 1 4 0 25 8 1.69 Duensing 1.1 2 1 1 0 0 19 13 2.70 Fien 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 15 8 1.08 8.0 8 5 5 7 1 151 84 Padres INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Kennedy W 3-6 7.0 1 0 0 2 14 110 74 4.84 Roach 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 18 9 4.50 9.0 1 0 0 2 14 128 83 Min: Herrmann batted for Correia in the 6th Colabello batted for Duensing in the 8th SD : Hundley batted for Smith,S in the 6th Maybin inserted at cf in the 7th Venable moved to lf in the 7th Rivera inserted at c in the 8th E-Cabrera,E. 2B-Suzuki,K(9), Denorfia 2(5), Headley(8). HR-Headley(3). RBI-Cabrera,E(14), Headley 2(11), Gyorko(16). CS-Cabrera,E. K-Dozier 2, Mauer 3, Plouffe 2, Parmelee 2, Suzuki,K, Kubel 2, Hicks,A, Correia, Venable. BB-Escobar,Edu, Hicks,A, Denorfia, Cabrera,E 2, Smith,S, Headley, Gyorko, Grandal. SH-Cabrera,E, Kennedy 2. WP-Correia. Temperature: 69, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: left to right at 10 MPH. Attendance: 21,146 Game Time: 2:54