Webb weaves his spell
PITTSBURGH — Brandon Webb didn't like how he was throwing early in the game. His legs didn't feel right. The ball didn't feel comfortable when he released it.
Every pitcher should go through these problems.
Webb became the major leagues' first 11-game winner with his second successive effective start, holding Pittsburgh to one run and three hits over seven innings and driving in a run during the Arizona Diamondbacks' 3-1 victory Friday night.
Webb (11-2), coming off a 4-0 win over Washington May 31 in which he yielded only six singles, didn't allow a hit until Jose Bautista's two-out single in the fifth. The right-hander has permitted only one extra-base hit — Jason Bay's RBI double in the sixth — while giving up nine hits and one run in 16 innings over his last two starts.
"That's why he's 11-2, when you have that kind of stuff and can command it, you can go through the lineup quickly," Pirates manager John Russell said.
Webb has needed only 13 starts for his 11 victories, getting a decision every time he has gone to the mound. That comes mostly from pitching deep into games; he has lasted at least six innings in all but one start and seven innings or more eight times.
"It's just the confidence you have when he goes out there," manager Bob Melvin said. "You get a couple of runs early on and you let him do his thing, basically."
Webb, 29-12 over the last two seasons, struck out three and walked none while throwing 63 of his 95 pitches for strikes. He is 4-0 in five career starts against the Pirates but had not faced them since 2006.
The Pirates' run came when Freddy Sanchez singled and then barely beat left fielder Jeff Salazar's throw to the plate on Bay's double, his first hit against Webb in 15 career at-bats.
Brandon Lyon pitched the ninth inning for his 13th save in 15 opportunities after Tony Pena worked the eighth.
Salazar walked leading off the second and scored on Stephen Drew's two-out double off Ian Snell (2-6), who is winless in 10 starts since April 12. Chris Young tripled and came home on Orlando Hudson's sacrifice fly in the fifth. An inning later, reliever Franquelis Osoria hit Justin Upton with a pitch before he scored on Webb's two-out single, giving the pitcher his fifth RBI of the season.
