• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Webb outduels Wainwright as Diamondbacks win third straight

Sep 9, 2007 - 5:49 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- In a game of second-half aces, Brandon Webb was just a bit luckier.

Webb outdueled Adam Wainwright and became the fifth 15-game winner in the National League and Eric Byrnes scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks downed the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, on Friday.

With the win, Arizona doubled their lead in the NL West to two games over San Diego (76-65), which fell to Colorado earlier in the evening.

Since the All-Star break, Webb (2.34 ERA) and Wainwright (2.48) own the two best ERAs in the National League. This game did not disappoint from that standpoint, as an unearned run was the difference in Webb leaving with the lead and getting credit for the win.

Webb (15-10) snapped a two-start losing streak despite surrendering a solo shot to Jim Edmonds in the fourth, the third consecutive game in which he has allowed a long ball after going eight straight outings without permitting one. Over six frames, the righthander yielded two runs and four hits with an uncharacteristic four walks and five strikeouts.

"I didn't have my best stuff and didn't feel real great out there," Webb said. "I felt better the last couple of outings but had some not-so-good results and that is how it has been. Sometimes, I feel bad and get pretty good results and tonight was one of those nights and needed it against a team like the Cardinals and a pitcher like Wainwright."

Wainwright (13-10) nearly matched Webb pitch for pitch, permitting three runs - two earned - and six hits over six innings, taking the loss only because of Russell Branyan's throwing error in a Webb at-bat that allowed Augie Ojeda to score the first Arizona run.

"I don't have a whole lot of pitches I would like to take back," Wainwright said. "I threw a ton of pitches that were just off the plate and they didn't swing at them. I was given a lead against Brandon Webb - one of our game's best - and I blew it. I really feel like I got punched in the stomach there. I feel like I let the team down big time."

With the Diamondbacks trailing, 2-1, in the sixth, Byrnes followed a Jeff Salazar leadoff walk with a sinking liner into left-center that scored Salazar. Three batters later, Chris Young pushed Byrnes across the plate with an RBI fielder's choice groundout to increase the Arizona advantage to 3-2.

"That is the type of team we are," Byrnes said. "We continue to scrap and try to find ways to score runs. We continue to battle and it helps when we have a guy like Brandon Webb on the mound."

Tony Clark belted a solo homer in the eighth to double the Diamondbacks' lead to 4-2.

"Another well-played game," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "They made a couple of errors that cost them and, a lot of times in close games like that, that will swing something, whether it is a two-out walk or a misplay. Getting some middle-inning runs were huge then and Tony's add-on was big."

Tony Pena and Brandon Lyon each tossed a scoreless inning to bridge the gap between Webb and closer Jose Valverde, who worked around a single from Aaron Miles in the ninth to post his 43rd save in 50 chances.

"From spring training on, we all felt like we had a great bullpen," Lyon said. "Everything is under a microscope this time of the season. You have to have a short memory and forget about what has happened in the past and we have done a god job of that. We just try to go out there and pitch as well as we can and pitch to our strengths."

Albert Pujols had two hits and an RBI for the Cardinals (69-69), who missed out on an opportunity to force a three-way tie in the NL Central when the Chicago Cubs (71-69) and Milwaukee Brewers (71-69) both lost earlier in the day.

"It was a well-pitched game all the way to the end," Cardinals manger Tony La Russa said. "We had to scratch for runs. There were a couple of big blows, we each missed a rally or two. It was a tough game that went their way. Wainwright pitched well enough to win but he was going against a tough guy like Webb. We couldn't do much with him."