Webb K’s 10 to Win 10th; D’Backs 8 – BrewCrew 1

The Diamondbacks’ All-Star and ACE Brandon Webb struck out 10 in 7 shutout innings. (Brandon Lyon got touched for the BrewCrew’s lone run in the 8th. Edgar Gonzalez closed).

Just about everyone contributed on offense, especially cleanup hitter Conor Jackson who hit 2 homers and got 3 RBI. The heart of the batting order Jackson, Estrada and Green–Oh My!– was a collective 5-12 w 4 RBI and 3 R. Stephen Drew did not get any hits in his MLB debut, but he walked and scored a run. Luis Gonzalez batted third and he hit two doubles in a night that saw him go 3-5 with 2 RBI.

ANTOHER TWO BITE THE DUST! Eric Byrnes went 2-5 (BA .293) with 2 Rs, no K’s and no DPs. Both hits were doubles. He now has 39 XBH this year. This exceeds the 37 he had in A,A’05. That the two XBHs were doubles brings him to a total of 25, which exceeds the 24 he had in A,A’05. (I’ve had a strong feeling for a while now that 24 and 25 were going to come in the same game and they did). Eric now has 148 total bases, meaning he needs only 9 more to exceed last year’s total. He now has 45 runs scored, which means he needs only 5 more Rs to exceed last year’s total there as well. So unless he goes wild hitting triples this week, those are the two most likely categories to fall next. (He needs two triples to make 4, besting the 3 he hit last year).

Even a great day like today had some quacks. Byrnes hasn’t hit a homer since June 20. He’s overdue. We’d like to see him hit 3 or 4 before July is over. And he needs some three and 4 hit days to go with all the 2-5′s he’s getting. Since he’s at the top of the lineup he gets 5 ABs instead of the usual 4 and so his batting average needs more 3 hit days.

Byrnesie had no RBI, leaving 3 on base this game. Gonzo’s two doubles and a signle were accompanied by two double plays. He had 3 LOB. And speaking of double plays, the Fates must have decreed that Orlando Hudson was going to get doubled up somehow, because after the Brewers threw away the DP relay from 2nd, in the 7th, Hudson headed to second without noticing that the errant ball had quickly caromed back to Prince Fielder, who made the throw in plenty of time to get Hudson at second. A strange DP indeed, and one that helped ensure that Byrnesie didn’t bat in his special inning. (He grounded to short in the 8th).

And DTLFL hates pitch counts for anyone except Pedro Martinez. Webb struck out the last batter he faced. Why call on the bull pen to start the 8th? Don’t they need some rest?

Congrats to Vlad Guerrero, who batted in the 1,000th run of his career and THEN hit a grand slam!

K.R.