ATLANTA (AP) -- After Craig Kimbrel allowed a home
run for the first time since last September, the Braves' closer was
ready to begin another streak.
His mistake to Chris
Young contributed to Atlanta's 3-2 loss to Arizona on Thursday
night.
"I missed a spot," Kimbrel said. "He's a good
high-ball hitter, and I threw it right in his wheelhouse. I'll come back
tomorrow and start over."
Young hit a tiebreaking
homer off Kimbrel (0-1) in the ninth inning. It was the first homer
Kimbrel allowed since the Marlins' Omar Infante took him deep last Sept.
19.
The Braves have lost three of five. Though they
left 10 runners on base, Atlanta hitters combined to strand
21.
"I was impressed with their pitching overall,"
Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Their starting pitching and also
their bullpen. I think that's one of the best staffs we've seen one
through 12."
Brian McCann had an RBI double in the
third inning, and Bourn made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly in the
fourth.
But Braves starter Jair Jurrjens couldn't
hold the two-run lead in the sixth and left with runners on first and
third and two out.
Jason Kubel, who began the night
leading the NL with 24 RBIs in June, made it 2-2 in the sixth with a
double off Jurrjens that scored Willie Bloomquist from second and Justin
Upton from first.
A wild pitch walk to Miguel
Montero moved Kubel to third and chased Jurrjens, who allowed six hits,
two runs and three walks with no strikeouts in 5 2-3
innings.
"I was trying to have fun, keep my team in
the game," Jurrjens said. "I wasn't as aggressive as I wanted to be in
the strike zone."
Arizona starter Trevor Bauer
battled with a strained groin in his major league debut and had to leave
after pitching the first four innings.
Bauer, the
No. 3 overall draft pick in 2011, did not receive a decision. Called up
from Triple-A Reno earlier in the day, Bauer allowed five hits, two
runs, three walks and struck out three in four innings. The 21-year-old
right-hander, who left for a pinch-hitter in the fifth, threw 42 of his
74 pitches for strikes.
David Hernandez (1-0) earned
the win with a scoreless eighth, allowing no hits, walking two and
striking out the side.
J.J. Putz earned his 14th save
in 17 chances, retiring Michael Bourn on a groundout, striking out
Jason Heyward and getting Martin Prado to ground
out.
Left-hander Patrick Corbin, making his majors
debut as a reliever, held the Braves scoreless in the fifth, sixth and
seventh and retired the last eight batters he
faced.
The Diamondbacks have won five of seven and 15
of 23. They snapped a season-high four-game losing streak on the
road.
During its last six games overall, Arizona's
bullpen is 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA.
Young homered for the
second straight night, but was batting .151 in his previous 106 at-bats
and had been dropped to eighth in the batting order. Arizona has
homered in nine straight games for the first time since July 20-Aug. 1,
2010.
Young was excited to beat Kimbrel, who snapped a
17-game scoreless streak that dated to May 8 at
Chicago.
"He's one of the best in the game -- there's
no secret to that," Young said of last year's NL Rookie of the Year.
"His fastball is electric. He had his breaking ball working good
tonight. I was able to battle, battle, and he threw me a couple of good
pitches. I was able to foul them off, and he left me one to
hit."
NOTES: Uggla, Freeman and
Simmons combined to leave 13 runners on base. ... Heyward went 0 for 5
to snap a 12-game hitting streak, but he ended the Arizona second by
catching Aaron Hill's fly ball in right field and throwing out Kubel on
McCann's tag at the plate. ... Arizona optioned INF Josh Bell to Reno to
make room for Bauer on the 25-man roster. ... Montero walked twice and
has reached base safely in his last 17 games.
