Webb's scoreless streak at 42 innings
Brandon Webb pitched his third straight shutout and stretched his scoreless streak to 42 innings, tossing a two-hitter to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks past the host Atlanta Braves 4-0 on Friday night.
Webb (13-8) became the first pitcher since Orel Hershiser in 1988 to go at least 40 innings without giving up a run and just the 21st pitcher in baseball history to reach that level of stinginess.
Webb, whose streak began nearly a month ago with the final inning of his July 20 start against the Cubs, was clinging to a 1-0 lead when Mark Reynolds gave Arizona some breathing room with a mammoth 2-run homer off Lance Cormier (0-3) in the eighth.
Chris Young has his second 2-homer game of the week. He went deep leading off the third against Cormier, then added his 24th homer of the season off Tyler Yates in the ninth.
Nineteen years ago, Hershiser was with the Dodgers when he set the record of 59 straight scoreless innings. Webb, last year's NL Cy Young winner, is tied with Rube Foster for the 12th-longest streak in baseball history. Since 1940, only Don Drysdale (58), Bob Gibson (47) and Sal Maglie (45) have longer scoreless innings streaks.
Reds 8, Brewers 3: Bronson Arroyo and visiting Cincinnati knocked slumping and error-prone Milwaukee out of first place in the NL Central.
The Brewers (62-60) lost their season-high fifth straight at home, falling a half-game behind the Cubs.
Milwaukee has lost 14 of its last 19 contests and 11 of 15 in August. It's the first time the Brewers have been in second since Aug. 2 -- they regained the top spot a day later.
Mets 6, Nationals 2: Tom Glavine (11-6) picked up win No. 301 by allowing 1 run over 7 innings as New York beat host Washington.
Damion Easley and Moises Alou homered off Nationals starter Matt Chico (5-7), Jose Reyes stole his 61st and 62nd bases, and Mike DiFelice hit his first triple in three years as the first-place Mets made sure they wouldn't lose ground in the NL East.
Glavine moved into sole possession of 21st place on the all-time majors win list, ahead of Lefty Grove and Early Wynn. Glavine, who struck out six, has 2,555 career strikeouts, tying him with Tim Keefe for 27th.
Phillies 11, Pirates 8: Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell homered, J.D. Durbin won his fourth consecutive start and Philadelphia won for the fourth time in five games by beating host Pittsburgh.
Giants 3, Marlins 0: Barry Zito allowed 1 hit in 7 innings, and Rajai Davis hit his first career home run as San Francisco beat host Florida.
American League
Red Sox 8-5, Angels 4-5: Orlando Cabrera singled to tie the game and scored on Vladimir Guerrero's 2-run double as Los Angeles rallied off Eric Gagne in the ninth to beat Boston 7-5 and split a day-night doubleheader.
Clay Buchholz (1-0) gave Boston 6 strong innings in his major-league debut to pace an 8-4 win in the afternoon. John Lackey (15-7) failed to win his 16th game in the afternoon, and Josh Beckett did the same in the nightcap.
Yankees 6, Tigers 1: Andy Pettitte pitched 8 innings to win his fourth straight start, and Jason Giambi homered twice, helping host New York beat Detroit.
Andy Phillips hit a 2-run double, and Alex Rodriguez had an RBI double for the Yankees. Joe Torre earned his 2,041st victory as a manager, passing Walter Alston for sole possession of eighth place on the career list.
Blue Jays 5, Orioles 2: A.J. Burnett won his second straight start, Frank Thomas hit his 506th career home run and Toronto extended its home winning streak against Baltimore to five games.
Indians 2, Devil Rays 1: Paul Byrd (11-5) made 2 early runs stand up, holding host Tampa Bay to 1 run in 6 innings for Cleveland.
Twins 2, Rangers 1 (10): Nick Punto scored on a wild pitch with nobody out in the 10th inning to lift host Minnesota past Texas.