Webb wins 22nd, D'backs gain ground in NL West

[September 23, 2008]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Brandon Webb won his 22nd game and Stephen Drew homered to help the Arizona Diamondbacks creep closer in the NL West with a 4-2 victory on Monday night.

Three weeks after hitting for the cycle against St. Louis right-hander Joe Pineiro, Drew came within a triple of another and drove in two runs. Conor Jackson had two hits and an RBI for the Diamondbacks, who have won seven of eight and are two games behind the idle Dodgers with six games to go. Arizona has won three in a row on the road on the heels of a franchise-record 10-game road losing streak.

Felipe Lopez and Cesar Izturis had three hits apiece for the Cardinals, who have lost 10 of 12 and are only four games above .500 for the first time since they were 24-20 on May 16. St. Louis' magic number is one to be eliminated from postseason contention.

Webb (22-7) tied the Indians' Cliff Lee for the major league victory lead. Webb has won three straight starts, allowing only four earned runs in 22 innings. He allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings, one of them scoring on his first balk of the season. The Cardinals had only three hits in 18 at-bats with a runner on.

Drew is 10-for-18 against the Cardinals with two homers and three RBIs, including a fourth-inning RBI double that put the Diamondbacks ahead 2-1 and his 20th homer in the sixth for a 3-1 lead.

Drew also singled to open the game, advanced on a wild pickoff throw by Todd Wellemeyer (12-9) and easily scored on Jackson's one-out double.

The Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the first, benefiting when Albert Pujols got new life on an apparent swinging third strike that was ruled a foul tip. Pujols was on first when Webb flubbed a third-to-first pickoff move.

But Webb bested the Cardinals' MVP candidate in the seventh, striking out Pujols on a 2-2 changeup to end the inning with runners on first and third. St. Louis narrowed the gap to 3-2 on Skip Schumaker's run-scoring groundout earlier in the seventh and missed a chance to tie it when Izturis was held up at third with a good shot to score on Lopez' single.

The Diamondbacks restored the two-run lead in the eighth on pinch hitter Chad Tracy's RBI double off Russ Springer. Brandon Lyon escaped unscathed after the Cardinals had two on and none out in the eighth and Chad Qualls finished for his seventh save in 15 chances.

Wellemeyer lost his third straight start, allowing three runs on nine hits in six innings. He's 1-5 in his last six decisions despite a 3.32 ERA in that span.

The Cardinals just missed turning an inning-ending double play on Webb's one-out grounder to second against a drawn-in infield in the fourth, one at-bat before Drew's RBI double. The Cardinals' relay from right fielder Ryan Ludwick to Lopez at second to the plate caught Webb trying to score for the final out of the inning.

Arizona's Mark Reynolds struck out twice and has 198 on the year, one off the major league record set last year by the Phillies' Ryan Howard, right behind at 195 strikeouts.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

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