John Clay's Sidelines

It's Sweet 16 for Ashland's Brandon Webb.

The Arizona sinkerballer improved his Major League-best record to 16-4 with a masterful 3-1 win over Pittsburgh last night. In fact, Webb just missed a shutout. The Pirates' Freddie Sanchez led off the ninth with a double, then scored on an RBI single by Doug Mientkiewicz. But with runners on first and second, Webb registered back-to-back strikeouts of Brandon Moss and Jason Michaels to end it.

And get this: The game took just 1:55.

Twenty-one of his 27 outs were on grounders.

Here is the Webb line:

• Threw his first complete game since May 31.
• Allowed nine hits. Has not given up more hits than innings since July 3.
• The only run he allowed score in the ninth.
• He has allowed two earned runs in 17 innings over last two starts.
• He did not walk a batter, and has walked six over his last 39 innings.
• Two of his four strike outs came in the ninth inning.
• He threw 103 pitches, 10 shy of his season high.
• He threw 67 strikes, a 65 percent ratio of strikes to balls.
• His ERA is 2.93, his lowest since June 11.

Webb is under a contract that would pay him $6.5 million in 2009 with a club option that would pay the pitcher $9.5 million for 2010. After the game, Webb gave the media a bit of a surprise, saying that he had agreed to a contract extension with Arizona earlier in the year, but the deal had never been finalized.

That news comes on the heels of news that Arizona's Dan Haren agreed to a $44.75 million, four-year contract with the Diamondbacks.

With vacation and some down-time, got out of the habit of doing the Brandon Webb Watch.

But we’re back.

And so is Brandon, who was masterful last night in picking up his 15th win, a 2-1 triumph over the Dodgers.

The Webb line:

IP     H    R   ER BB  K   HR  PC-St   ERA
8.0    6    1    1    1    6    0    97-70    3.04

Now 15-4 on the year, the former UK star has allowed just seven earned runs over  his last five starts. He’s allowed just 10 hits over his last two starts, which have comprised 15 innings. His 3.04 ERA is the lowest it has been since June 11.

Links:

• LA Times blog says what a tangled Webb Brandon weaves.

• MLB.com says Webb first to 15 wins as Diamondbacks beat Dodgers.
  

• Webb pitches Diamondbacks past Dodgers.

Usually when I write on a subject, it is the equivalent of a major-league jinx. But since his July 3 return from elbow surgery, Lexingtonian Austin Kearns has been a much different hitter.

The Washington Nationals starting right-fielder was hitting .187 when he went on the disabled list with chips on his right elbow. Since his return, Kearns has hit .327 (16-of-49) with two homers and 11 RBI.

Kearns scored five runs in five at-bats in Washington’s 15-6 win over Atlanta. The 28-year-old went three-for-five from the plate with a two-run home run and a double. It was Austin’s 100th career home run in the majors.

His batting average for the season is now up to .221.

“He’s hitting everything right on the button,” first baseman Paul Lo Duca told the Washington Post. “I know he was struggling this year, and he tried to play through the elbow. But he’s healthy now, and that’s showing.”

The headline on the espn.com game recap said: “Webb returns to All-Star form.”

But Brandon Webb wasn’t so sure.

“It was a struggle once again,” the ex-UK pitcher told the Arizona Republic on Saturday night after his Arizona Diamondbacks beat Florida 6-2. “It seemed like I had to battle every inning.”

Still, after recent subpar outings, leading to worries about a dead arm, Webb did climb back on the winning track Saturday, allowing just two earned runs in six innings as Arizona beat the host Marlins to run Webb’s record to 12-4.

The line:

IP     H    R  ER  BB  K   HR  PC-St    ERA
6.0    5    2    2    3    8    0    110-67    3.21

Best part of the line: The eight strike outs. Giving up just five hits in six innings is good stuff. But the 8 Ks shows that Webb’s trusty sinker was back to working again. It was his highest strikeout total since May 31.

It was his first win since June 6, after three straight winless starts.

“It’s good to get that one out of the way,” Webb told the Arizona Republic, which described the outing an “uneven” performance. “It’s been a while.”

Webb is now 2-2 in June with a 4.76 ERA. He was 4-2 with a 3.38 ERA in May.

There are times in your sportswriting life when events happen miles away that effect what you are writing for the next day’s paper, only you have no way in the world of knowing those events are happening. Wednesday was one of those days.

I caught the Lexington Legends afternoon game Wednesday and wound up tapping out a column about how the team’s woeful record on the field, worst in the South Atlantic League, combined with these tough economic times, has really not had much effect on the team’s bottom line at the turnstiles. During the game, I had a nice, long chat with Alan Stein, the Legends’ minority owner and chief operating officer.

(Some of the stuff that didn’t make the paper: As part of the Ivy Walls Management team that also owns the Class AAA Omaha Royals, Stein has been sending quite a bit of time in Nebraska trying to gain a new stadium deal. Omaha is building a new stadium to replace Rosenblatt, site of the College World Series. But the farm team has some issues that need to be decided, as well. And one of the Royals’ minority owners is Warren Buffett, by the way.)

In the course of the conversation, Stein told me how much he liked Ed Wade, the Houston Astros’ new general manager. The Legends are the Astros’ Class Low A farm team. Wade had recently been in Lexington for a visit and to catch up with Stein, who said he enjoyed the visit. He said Wade was a “look-you-in-the-eye” kind of guy, who explained the reasons behind the team’s moves. He said looked forward to a long, working relationship with Wade.

Then this morning, Wade is all over the news. As you’ve probably, Wade and Houston pitcher Shawn Chacon became embroiled in a shouting match in the Astros dining room on Wednesday night, which ended with Chacon putting his hands around Wade’s neck and throwing him to the floor. Wade had reportedly told Chacon to meet him in manager Cecil Cooper’s office. Chacon refused. The two then began screaming obscenities at the other and, well, it was Latrell Sprewell-P.J. Carlesimo all over again. Chacon has been suspended.

Richard Justice gives his take in his Houston Chronicle blog here.

Watching/listening to the Reds beat Toronto 6-5 in extra innings last night I was struck – upside the head actually – by just what a terrific year a rather unnoticed and sort of forgotten ex-UK pitcher is having for the Blue Jays.

With the bases full of Reds in the seventh, in came Scott Downs, a left-handed reliever, one of four in the Toronto bullpen, who quickly fanned Norris Hopper to end the inning.

Downs returned in the eighth, gave up a hit and a walk, but held Cincinnati scoreless.

Not that this is anything new. The stint lowered the Louisville native’s ERA to (get this) 1.26 for the season. He has allowed just 28 hits and five earned runs in 35 2/3 innings. B.J. Ryan is Toronto’s closer, but Downs does have five saves in his 34 appearances.

On the radio broadcast, Marty Brennaman mentioned how he was talking with Alan Ashby, the former major league catcher and now Toronto radio announcer, who said that Downs stuff was “wicked.”

Jeff Brantley, Marty’s booth-mate last night, responded by saying of one of Downs’ deliveries, “I’m not sure you can hit that pitch,”

In actuality, Downs is one of those rare Major League cases of a pitcher who has become much better in his later years. A third-round pick of the Cubs in 1997, he made his MLB debut in 2000. Before that, he was traded by the Cubs to Minnesota, and then back to the Cubs. Shortly after making it to the majors, he was dealt to Montreal, where he was sent back to the minors for two more seasons before making it back up to the big club. After the Expos became the Washington Nationals, they released Downs in 2004. He then signed with Toronto.

Here’s the thing: Downs started 12 games with Montreal in 2004 and finished with a 4.53 ERA. He started 13 of 26 appearances with Toronto in 2005 and wound up with a 4.31 ERA. He went primarily to the pen in ’06 and fashioned a 4.09 ERA in 59 appearances, five of them starts.

Since then, he’s been lights out. Last year, Downs ended up with a 2.17 ERA in a career-high 81 appearances. His WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) was 1.224. It’s down to 1.178 this season. He’s allowed one homer all year, that against Detroit way back on April 18. He hasn’t surrendered a run since April 30 at Boston. Take out a zero-innings, three-run showing against Kansas City on April 25, and Downs ERA would be an amazing 0.50.

Some other Downs notes: He was Kentucky’s Mr. Baseball after his senior year at Pleasure Ridge Park. And whenever he goes to the mound to pitch, he writes the initials of his two children in the dirt before pitching. And back in January, he signed a three-year, $10 million contract with the Jays.

Maybe we should bring a halt to the Webb Watch. After all, since we started keeping closer tabs on the what former UK star Brandon Webb is doing on a start-by-start basis, the Arizona left-hander has found himself in a prolonged skid.

The skid didn’t stop yesterday in Minnesota. Arizona lost 5-3. A misplay by Diamondbacks first baseman-turned-outfielder Connor Jackson led to a five-run fifth inning for the host Twins. That’s all Minnesota needed for a three-game sweep of spiraling Arizona.

Webb’s line:

IP    H    R   ER BB   K  HR  PC-ST   ERA
7.0    8    5    4    1    4    0    99-66    3.40

On the bright side, Brandon lasted seven innings for the first time in his last three starts. He pitched seven innings at Pittsburgh on June 6. In another positive, the outing was much better than last week against Oakland, when Webb allowed nine hits, five walks and seven earned runs in just 3 1/3 innings. His 99 pitches were the most since his complete-game, 113-pitch shutout of Washington on May 13.

On the negative side, Brandon has now lost four of his last six decisions since starting the year 9-0. His ERA of 3.40 is the highest of the season. In four June starts, he has allowed 15 earned runs in 22 1/3 innings, for an ERA of  4.71.

You have to wonder, at least a little bit, how the prolonged talks of a new contract with Arizona have affected Webb’s pitching. He cut them off last week, telling the Arizona Republic, “It’s gone on for five months. I’m tired of it. We’ve got 2 ½ years. If it comes down to that, I’ll be a free agent.”

Webb’s deal for $6.5 million annually runs through the 2009 season. The Diamondbacks have an $8.5 million option for 2010. Word is the two sides were talking of a three-year extension, but Webb admitted it has become a distraction.

"Yeah, it kind of is, trying to do stuff out there on the mound and not knowing if that's going to help you or hurt you in the meantime," he said. "That's why I didn't even want to go past spring training. . . . To have it done and over with, it's good to get it off my mind."

After such a great start to his season, Brandon Webb has indeed fallen on hard times. Last night was proof, as Arizona was routed 15-1 to visiting Oakland.

Webb's line:

IP     H    R  ER  BB  K  HR  PC-St    ERA
3.1    9    7    7    5    3    2    84-49    3.27

The 3 1/3 innings is his shortest outing of the year. The seven earned runs allowed is the most in a start this year. In his last two starts, Webb has allowed 10 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings, as his record dropped to 11-3.

This from the Arizona Republic:

Webb's previous start was a week ago against the Mets at Shea Stadium, and he lasted just five innings, throwing 58 pitches and exiting after being struck in the side by a drive off the bat of Carlos Delgado.

There also were whispers of a "dead arm," which every pitcher experiences during the course of the season.

Webb left the clubhouse before reporters were allowed in, but manager Bob Melvin and catcher Chris Snyder said Webb's arm was fine.

"He was where he was in April and early May. His stuff was there," Snyder said. "It was one of those nights where that stuff shouldn't happen."

Melvin said: "Oddly enough, he felt great. His velocity was back up.

"He had some trouble with the movement on his sinker at times, but they (Athletics) hit some good pitches."

Related links:

• A's hammer Arizona ace Webb. [San Jose Mercury-News]

• Webb, pen blasted by Athletics. [Arizona Republic]

• Webb lacks command. [MLB.com]

Here at the ol' blog, we're going to try and do a better job keeping up with and analyzing Brandon Webb's starts. He is a former Wildcat, after all. He's from Ashland. He's one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. And he's on his way to another spectacular year for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Going for his 12th win of the season, Webb got a no-decision last night as Arizona ended up losing at the New York Mets 5-3 in 13 innings. He was struck on the side by Carlos Delgado line drive and left an inning later.

Brandon's line:

IP     H    R  ER  BB  K   HR  NP-St   ERA
5.0    5    3    3    0    4    0    58-40    2.73

It was his second-shortest start of the 14 Brandon has made this season. He lasted just 4 1/3 innings back on May 26 in a 7-3 loss at Atlanta. Since that start, he had pitched 23 innings in his last three starts, allowing 12 hits and just two earned runs. He won both starts, lowering his ERA to 2.58. Last night, obviously didn't go quite as well. He threw just 58 pitches, a season-low.

In the Arizona Republic, Arizona manager Bob Melvin said afterward of the line drive, "He felt it a little bit, but at that point, the way we had been riding him, I didn't want to run him out there for two more innings and get his pitch counts up. Innings-wise he's pitched quite a bit for us. Just wanted to give him a little blow."

Webb said he might be experiencing a bit of a dead arm, saying, "Yeah, it doesn't hurt. Maybe a dead-arm period or something like that. Like I said, it doesn't hurt, so it's tough to tell. Everything feels good."

Next start: Tuesday, June 17, versus visiting Oakland.