• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Webb wins 18th as Diamondbacks drub Astros

Aug 16, 2008 - 4:55 AM HOUSTON (Ticker) -- The Arizona Diamondbacks made it easy for Brandon Webb to become the first 18-game winner in the major leagues.

Arizona scored three runs in the first inning with the help of four walks by Wandy Rodriguez and went on to a 12-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday.

Webb (18-4) allowed two runs and four hits in eight innings en route to his fifth straight win. The righthander, who has not lost since June 22 at Minnesota, walked one and struck out six.

"He's had some good games this year," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "I think that was the best we've seen his sinker all year. The first at-bat to (Darin) Erstad was an indication how good his stuff was."

"His ball moves about two feet," Houston's Lance Berkman said. "He must be the only starter in the game who literally can throw two pitches and win 20 games every year."

Webb threw 59 of his 85 pitches for strikes. He has recorded three complete games, but Melvin decided to rest him in the blowout.

"In that type of game, we saved some pitches on him," Melvin said.

"I was getting ahead of most of the hitters," Webb said. "I was pretty aggressive in the strike zone, keeping the ball on the ground."

Stephen Drew opened the game with the first of his two doubles, extending his hitting streak to 17 games. After retiring Chris Young, Rodriguez walked the next three batters to force in a run.

Tony Clark singled in the second run of the inning and Chris Snyder drew another bases-loaded walk to cap the outburst, allowing Webb to take the mound with a 3-0 lead.

"That's huge," Webb said. "It makes it a little bit easier on me."

Webb was able to pitch inside effectively against the Astros.

"I've never seen so many broken bats," Young said of Webb, who claimed he broke four Houston bats. "He's just an amazing pitcher."

Arizona added a single run in the third, fourth and fifth innings before Snyder belted a two-run homer off Tim Byrdak in the sixth for an 8-1 cushion. Young added another homer, his 16th, in the seventh to stretch Arizona's lead to 9-2.

"Having a night like that in front of family and friends is kind of special," said Snyder, who played at the University of Houston. "I grew up a big Astros fan."

Former Astro Chris Burke launched a three-run blast in the eighth to cap the scoring.

Burke, who was part of the offseason trade for Jose Valverde, said he was not out to prove anything to the Astros.

"The way I'm going, every home run feels kind of special," said Burke, who is hitting .204 and has only two homers. "I have a lot of good memories here (in Houston). There's a lot of good people here. I've got plenty of incentive every time I take the field."

Burke hit one of the most important home runs in Astros history against the Atlanta Braves in the 2005 National League Division Series.

Rodriguez (7-5) lasted 2 1/3 innings, allowing four runs, three hits and tying his career high of six walks.

"We noticed Wandy kind of dropped his elbow in the first inning," Houston manager Cecil Cooper said. "We got through the second pretty well and we thought, 'OK, here we go, 3-1 and we're back in it.' But we couldn't stop the bleeding."

"I didn't have location," Rodriguez said. "I thought in the second inning it was getting better. Then I miss, I miss, I miss."

Lance Berkman doubled in a run in the first and Ty Wigginton extended his hitting streak to 12 games by collecting three of the Astros' five hits, including a solo homer in the sixth.

The loss ended Houston's eight-game winning streak.