The slumping Arizona Diamondbacks needed a terrific start from Brandon Webb, and the ace delivered against the Cincinnati Reds.
Unfortunately for Webb and the Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers are rolling right now.
Webb tossed eight shutout innings to become the National League’s first 20-game winner, and Arizona beat Cincinnati 3-2 on Friday night to end a six-game losing streak.
“Every win right now is a must-win for the whole team,” Webb said.
Webb (20-7) outpitched Aaron Harang to earn his first victory since Aug. 21. Arizona remained 3 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers, who won 7-2 at Colorado.
James Loney drove in three runs and Chad Billingsley (15-10) pitched six solid innings for Los Angeles, which has won three straight and 11 of 12.
“If we keep winning, we’ll be all right,” Billingsley said. “We’re where we want to be, we want to keep playing well, and that’s the only thing we can control.”
d the Texas coast.
In other NL games Friday, it was: Pittsburgh 10, St. Louis 2; Florida 2, Washington 1; and San Francisco 5, San Diego 2.
Arizona’s shaky bullpen nearly blew Webb’s victory in the ninth. Closer Brandon Lyon gave up four base hits, including a two-run single by pinch-hitter Jeff Keppinger, before manager Bob Melvin summoned Chad Qualls.
“At that point, I had given (Lyon) enough rope, and I needed to go get him,” Melvin said.
Qualls entered with runners on first and third, and struck out pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston Jr. for his third save in 11 chances.
Lyon also blew a save in a wrenching loss at San Francisco on Wednesday, and Melvin hinted he may make a switch at closer.
“Tomorrow, we’ll deal with some of the issues that we need to take care of,” Melvin said.
Webb became Arizona’s first 20-game winner since 2002, when Randy Johnson won 24 games and Curt Schilling won 23.
Harang (4-16) gave up an unearned run and four hits in seven innings.
At Denver, Loney, Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Angel Berroa had two hits apiece for Los Angeles.
“We’ve jelled,” Kemp said. “We’re getting the job done on the pitching side and hitting side. Everything’s just clicking for us right now.”
Jeff Francis (4-10) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings for Colorado.
Pirates 10, Cardinals 2
career-high five RBIs to lead the Pirates to the win.
Paul Maholm (9-8) pitched into the ninth inning for last-place Pittsburgh, which snapped a six-game losing streak and won for the fourth time in 21 games.
Rookie Luis Cruz also had three hits for the Pirates, who finished with 14 hits.
Pittsburgh improved to 8-7 against St. Louis, getting its most wins in a season against the Cardinals since 1997.
Mark Johnson drove in a run for visiting St. Louis, which lost its third straight to fall five games behind Milwaukee in the NL wild-card race.
Pittsburgh sent 11 batters to the plate during a six-run fifth inning that chased Joel Pineiro (6-6).
Marlins 2, Nationals 1
At Miami, Scott Olsen got his first win in 10 starts and Jorge Cantu hit a record-setting home run for Florida.
Olsen (7-10) gave up one run and six hits in six innings for his first win since July 19 against Philadelphia. Matt Lindstrom pitched a perfect ninth to get his third save in six opportunities.
Cantu hit his 25th homer in the fourth to tie it at 1, making the Marlins the first team in major league history to have four infielders hit at least 25.
Mike Jacobs (32), Dan Uggla (30), Hanley Ramirez (29) and Cantu have accounted for 116 of the Marlins’ 188 homers this season.
ne and walked three.
Giants 5, Padres 2
Jake Peavy had a rare poor start at home and San Francisco took advantage, getting a go-ahead home run from rookie Travis Ishikawa.
Peavy (9-11) allowed five runs and a season-high 11 hits in eight innings for the Padres. It was the first time in 14 home starts that Peavy has allowed more than three earned runs.
Ishikawa hit a solo drive in the sixth to give the Giants a 3-2 lead.
Jonathan Sanchez (9-10) allowed two runs and six hits in six-plus innings, ending a nine-start winless streak with his first victory since he beat Oakland on June 29.
Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his 38th save in 43 chances after two straight blown saves.
Adrian Gonzalez went deep for San Diego, hitting his third home run in the last two games.
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