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Webb, Diamondbacks blank Nationals

Jul 9, 2008 - 3:21 AM By Rich Dubroff PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Brandon Webb became the first 13-game winner in the major leagues Tuesday night, throwing six stellar innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Washington Nationals, 2-0.

Webb (13-4) allowed six hits, struck out six and walked two. The righthander, who began the season with nine straight victories, won his second consecutive decision after losing three straight in June.

Webb battled out of a jam in the fifth, when Washington loaded the bases with two outs. But Austin Kearns, who had singled each of his first two times at the plate, flied out to end the inning.

"Every inning, there's at least an at-bat where I need to get a strikeout or something like that," Webb said. "But I end up doing all right. It's been a while since I haven't given up any runs.

"I'm falling behind, not getting early ground balls and things like that, and my pitch count is just growing and growing. I'm getting there, and I'm happy with how things went."

Chad Qualls and Tony Pena each tossed a perfect frame before Brandon Lyon retired the side in order in the ninth for his 19th save of the season in 22 chances.

Chris Burke reached on shortstop Cristian Guzman's throwing error with one out in the third and moved to second on starter Odalis Perez's balk before scoring on Chris Young's single to right field. With Stephen Drew in the batter's box, Perez (2-6) was called for another balk and ejected after arguing with plate umpire Angel Hernandez.

Perez was livid after the game as he angrily denounced Hernandez.

"He's just stupid and (an) idiot," Perez said. "It's like he has something personal against me. I hate that."

Perez, who has won just two of his 16 starts this season, had to be restrained by manager Manny Acta.

"It's a little mind-boggling to me that this guy takes the mound every five days for us and nobody else calls a balk, and this guy drops two on him in one night," Acta said. "It didn't make a difference because we didn't score any runs."

While his manager was sympathetic, he was not happy Perez lost his cool.

"Where did his emotions get us? They didn't erase the balks," Acta said. "Everybody's got a different DNA and not everybody's in control of their emotions. But that really didn't help us."

Hernandez declined to comment after the game.

"I lost the game, and I hate that so bad because he's bad," Perez said of Hernandez. "He's awful. He's the worst."

Arizona manager Bob Melvin agreed with the calls.

"There were some dramatics to it, but I certainly don't blame (Hernandez) for calling them," Melvin said. "I saw it the same way he did."

Perez was replaced by Steven Shell, who pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Arizona capitalized on another fielding miscue in the sixth. Robby Hammock lined a base hit to center with two outs, but the ball skipped past center fielder Roger Bernadina, allowing Mark Reynolds to score from first base.

"They made a couple of mistakes, basically, and gave us the opportunity to score a couple runs," Young said. "We put the pressure on them, scraped a few hits and got the runs we needed."

Washington, which has lost six straight games and 25 of its last 35, was shut out for the major league-leading 11th time this season. Guzman, the team's lone All-Star representative, went 0-for-3, ending his 14-game hitting streak.