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WASHINGTON (AP) -
Brandon Webb
liked the result. He wasn't happy with how he achieved it.
Webb gave up six hits in six innings to earn his major league-leading 13th win in the
Arizona Diamondbacks
' 2-0 victory over the
Washington Nationals
on Tuesday night.
''Once again, it was a battle,'' Webb said. ''I haven't had an easy inning in a month, it seems like.''
Washington starter
Odalis Perez
(2-6) had trouble of his own - with home plate umpire Angel Hernandez, who called two balks on the pitcher and then ejected
him in the third inning.
Perez's first balk led to the Diamondbacks' first run, moving
Chris Burke
- who reached on an error by shortstop
Cristian Guzman
- to second. Burke scored on
Chris Young
's single.
After the second balk, Perez charged toward Hernandez, who quickly ejected Perez. The left-hander had to be restrained by
manager Manny Acta, pitching coach Randy St. Claire and second base umpire Eric Cooper.
''He's just stupid. He's stupid and (an) idiot,'' Perez said of Hernandez. ''This is the third or fourth time he called a
balk on me. I lost the game twice. It's like he has something personal against me. ... I hate that. I know I'm going to get
fined, but I don't care. I want to protect myself and protect my teammates, too.
''He called it. I don't like that. I hate that. I lost the game, and I hate that so bad because he's bad. He's awful. He's
the worst,'' Perez added.
Hernandez declined to comment.
Melvin, however, felt Perez was stepping toward home plate and earned the calls.
''There were some dramatics to it, but I certainly don't blame him for calling them,'' Melvin said. ''I saw it the same way
he did.''
Washington manager Manny Acta called it ''mind-boggling'' that Hernandez called two balks on Perez in an inning and Perez
had no balks this season, but said the calls had little effect on the outcome.
''It didn't make a difference because we didn't score any runs on him anyway,'' Acta said.
Webb (13-4) struck out six and walked two in his first start since being chosen for the NL All-Star team for a third straight
year. It was the 16th time in 19 starts Webb lasted at least six innings.
But Webb and Arizona manager
Bob Melvin
said the pitcher struggled with his release point and command of his fastball throughout the game.
Webb's toughest inning came in the fifth, with Arizona holding a 1-0 lead. The Nationals loaded the bases on a double, error
and a walk, and with two outs Webb faced
Austin Kearns
, who already had two hits in the game and was 9-for-20 against Webb.
''I knew he'd hit me fairly well and had some big hits off me,'' Webb said. ''I was like, 'I'm not going to walk him.' I just
challenged him.''
Webb ended up getting Kearns to fly out on a 3-2 pitch, ending the Nationals' only real offensive threat of the game.
The Diamondbacks scored off another Nationals' error in the sixth inning, when
Robby Hammock
's single scooted past Nationals center fielder
Roger Bernadina
. The two-base error allowed
Mark Reynolds
to score and sent Hammock to third.
''They made a couple of mistakes, basically, and gave us the opportunity to score a couple runs,'' Young said. ''We put the
pressure on them, scraped a few hits and got the runs we needed.''
After Webb left, the Arizona bullpen did not allow a base runner.
Chad Qualls
pitched the seventh,
Tony Pena
the eighth and
Brandon Lyon
worked the ninth for his 19th save.
Notes: The Nationals placed OF
Elijah Dukes
on the 15-day DL and recalled OF
Kory Casto
from Triple-A Columbus. ... Arizona RHP
Edgar Gonzalez
, on the 15-day DL with a sprained elbow, has decided against surgery, Diamondbacks manager
Bob Melvin
said Tuesday. ... Arizona OF
Eric Byrnes
, on the DL with a stained left hamstring, will have an MRI Thursday. Melvin said he may miss the rest of the season. ...
Nationals RHP
Chad Cordero
had surgery Tuesday to clean and repair a torn labrum as well as a tendon in his right shoulder. ... Washington SS
Cristian Guzman
did not get a hit, ending a 14-game hitting streak.
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