WASHINGTON — The Arizona Diamondbacks had their routine completely upended before playing the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, and manager Kirk Gibson wasn’t complaining.
Arizona’s Sean Burroughs hit a two-run home run and Ian Kennedy pitched seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 win that ended a six-game losing streak.
The Diamondbacks’ team bus arrived at Nationals Park 45 minutes late after being stuck in heavy traffic caused by the afternoon’s East Coast earthquake. The bus, which arrived at 5:15 p.m., was set to be later than usual even before the disruption, as Gibson had decided not to have Arizona take batting practice.
“We have a 4:15 bus again (today), no b.p., and I’m going to try to call another earthquake,” Gibson said after the game. “If the earthquake doesn’t show up, we’ll do the rest the same.”
Kennedy (16-4) allowed six hits, struck out eight, and had a single and a double at the plate. It was Kennedy’s eighth win in his last nine starts.
“It’s been kind of crazy,” Kennedy said. “It felt like high school all over again. You show up late, start getting ready an hour before the game.”
Although the Nationals had few real scoring chances, they did put the leadoff runner on base five times against Kennedy.
