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Webb eyes another strong starts against Orioles

Jun 22, 2007 - 12:37 PM Baltimore (31-41) at Arizona (42-31) 9:40 pm EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) - Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Webb appears to be returning to the form that won him the National League Cy Young Award a year ago.

Webb (7-4, 3.14 ERA) will take the mound on Friday as the Diamondbacks host the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a three-game interleague series. Arizona swept the Orioles in a three-game set last weekend in Baltimore.

In his last five starts, including a win over the Orioles during his last start on Sunday, Webb is 4-1 with a 1.75 ERA. The righthander has lasted seven or more innings in each of his last six starts.

Daniel Cabrera (5-8, 5.20) gets the start for the Orioles, who are 2-1 under interim manager Dave Trembley. The 6-7 righthander has been victimized by the home run in his last two outings, giving up three longballs in each of those starts. Cabrera had allowed eight home runs in 13 starts prior to that.

After being hit on hand with a pitch in Wednesday's game, Baltimore's Miguel Tejada was diagnosed with a left wrist fracture on Thursday. Reports of the injury surfaced after he played the briefest game of his career in Thursday's win over the San Diego Padres.

In an apparent attempt to keep his consecutive-games streak intact, Tejada bunted in his first inning at-bat and was immediately removed from the game. The Baltimore shortstop has played in 1,152 consecutive games - the fifth-longest steak of all-time.

Fifty-five games shy of tying Steve Garvey (1,207) for the fourth-longest streak, Tejada's status for Friday's game is uncertain.