Phoenix, AZ (My Sportsbook) - Brandon Webb finally got his 20th win on his fourth attempt at the feat, pitching eight shutout innings to give the Diamondbacks a much-needed 3-2 victory over the
Cincinnati Reds.
Webb (20-7) had lost his last three outings, allowing 21 runs -- 19 earned -- in only 13 2/3 innings in that span. He was brilliant tonight, scattering five hits and two walks while striking out a pair to become the NL's first 20-game winner.
"It was good to get it over with. Good to get (20 wins) and put it behind me. Hopefully I can go out and pitch and not look back," Webb said. "I was efficient today, which was big. I was getting ahead of a lot of the hitters. The change up today wasn't the best. It was probably the worst changeup I had all year. Overall it was mainly fastballs."
With the accomplishment, Webb becomes the first National League 20-game winner since St. Louis' Chris Carpenter, Florida's Dontrelle Willis, and Houston's Roy Oswalt did it in 2005.
"Twenty wins is an incredible feat. Twenty wins now a days just doesn't happen that often," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "Now that he has passed that hopefully he doesn't have that weight to deal with."
Chad Qualls locked down his third save of the season after cleaning up Brandon Lyon's mess in the ninth by getting the final out of the game.
David Eckstein scored two runs on a hit and a walk while Chris Young went 1- for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI to help snap Arizona's six-game losing streak.
The Diamondbacks remained 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Dodgers for the NL West lead after the Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies Friday night.
Aaron Harang (4-16) received the loss despite pitching seven effective innings. He gave up one unearned run on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts.
"That was as well as Harang has thrown the ball in the second half here," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "We had the tying run on third and the winning run on first, (and) that is what you want: an opportunity. We are just so close in every game we lose. We have to cut down or (not) make any mistakes. We don't have the offense right now to make those mistakes."
Chris Dickerson went 2-for-3 with a walk while Edwin Encarnacion went 2- for-4 and scored a run for the Reds, who dropped to 5-5 in September.
With Arizona up 3-0, Lyon got into some trouble in the ninth. Encarnacion hit a one-out single and two batters later Javier Valentin laced a two-out single to left to bring the tying run to the plate in Corey Patterson, who loaded the bases with an infield single.
Jeff Keppinger knocked Lyon from the game and made it a one-run affair with a two-run single to right, leaving runners on the corners with two outs. Qualls was brought in to shut the door, and he struck out Jerry Hairston, Jr. to end the game and secure the win for Webb and the Diamondbacks.
Arizona broke a scoreless tie in the sixth. With one out, Eckstein reached on an infield single and scampered to third on Harang's errant throw. Young made it a 1-0 game with an RBI single to left.
The Diamondbacks then got some insurance in the eighth. Jared Burton relieved Harang, and Jeff Salazar greeted him with a leadoff triple. Eckstein and Young both drew walks to load the bases with one out, and the Reds brought in Bill Bray from the bullpen.
Bray immediately walked former Red Adam Dunn to force home a run, and a wild pitch from Mike Lincoln allowed Eckstein to trot home for a 3-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Webb cruised. He didn't allow a runner to reach third throughout his time on the hill and set the Reds down 1-2-3 four times overall in the game.
Game Notes
The season series between the clubs is tied 2-2...Before the game, the Diamondbacks sent pitcher Micah Owings to the Reds to complete a trade from earlier in the season that sent Dunn to Arizona...Webb joins Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling as the only Diamondbacks players to reach 20 wins in a season. Schilling and Johnson both accomplished the feat during the famed 2001 campaign in which Arizona won its lone World Series title.
