ESPN analyst: Ian Kennedy showed he is a good teammate

Only Ian Kennedy knows whether or not he was trying to hit the L.A. Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig in the sixth inning Tuesday night or whether he was aiming for Zack Greinke’s head when he plunked him in the seventh, which set off a bench-clearing brawl.

But, according to ESPN MLB analyst Tim Kurkjian, the one thing Kennedy’s Arizona Diamondbacks teammates should know is that the pitcher has their backs.

“Now there’s a good teammate,” Kurkjian told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo of how people should view the right-hander. “One of our guys got hit and he hit somebody in retribution.”

Kennedy, though, says he was not trying to hit the Dodger pitcher. However, Kurkjian believes he was sticking up for catcher Miguel Montero, who was hit in the back with a Greinke pitch in the previous inning.

As it is, it’s as if none of the pitchers are truly at fault for anything that happened. Both Greinke and Kennedy were just sticking up for teammates, and each made sure they did just that.

“Montero clearly got hit on purpose,” Kurkjian said, noting that Kennedy saw that and felt like he had to do something. And, while some feel like no one should have gotten hit after Montero, the analyst understands why everything else transpired.

“I know the Diamondbacks look at it like the only guy who got hit on purpose was Montero, and that’s why retribution was needed.”

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