Fri Aug 15 23:38:44 2008

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What a tangled Webb we weave, D'Backs crush Astros

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Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Brandon Webb threw eight solid innings, Chris Snyder hit one of Arizona's three home runs and drove in four, as the Diamondbacks brought an end to Houston's eight-game win streak with a 12-2 throttling of the Astros.

Webb (18-4), who leads the major leagues in wins, allowed two runs on four hits and a walk, while striking out six. He has won five consecutive starts and equaled his career high in victories in a season.

Chris Burke finished the game 2-for-5 with a three-run homer, Chris Young added a solo shot, and Stephen Drew extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a pair of doubles.

The Astros' eight-game streak was the club's longest since a nine-game run between September 20-26, 2006, but came to a halt after Arizona battered Wandy Rodriguez (7-5) for four runs on three hits in just 2 1/3 frames. Rodriguez didn't help his cause any, walking six and striking out four.

Tim Byrdak gave up the bulk of the runs for Houston, as he surrendered all three homers, totaling six runs, in three innings of work. Ty Wigginton went 3-for-4 with a solo homer to lead the Astros' offense.

Drew doubled to start the game, and walks to Conor Jackson and Adam Dunn loaded the bases with one out for Mark Reynolds, who worked a free pass to force in a run. Tony Clark followed with an RBI single and Snyder also walked to plate Dunn for a 3-0 lead.

In the home half of the first, Wigginton got on base with a single and came home on a Lance Berkman double. But while Webb recovered to hold the Astros in check, the Diamondbacks kept steadily pouring on runs.

Snyder notched an RBI single in the third, which forced Rodriguez out and Chris Sampson to come in to pitch, and Jackson plated Drew -- who had doubled to lead off -- in the fourth. Young then drove in Burke in the fifth with a single. Facing Byrdak, Clark doubled with two away in the sixth, and Snyder's two-run homer followed to make it an 8-1 game.

Wigginton got one of the runs back in the home sixth, on a one-out solo shot -- just the ninth homer Webb has allowed this season.

But Young homered with two outs and none on in the seventh, and a three-run effort in the eighth helped Arizona put the game away. Reynolds doubled and Clark followed with a single. One batter later, Burke blasted his three-run shot to left -- just his second homer of the season -- to cap the scoring.

Game Notes

Berkman has 943 career RBI, which vaulted him past Jose Cruz for third place on the Astros' all-time RBI leader list...Eight of Arizona's 14 hits were for extra bases...Houston averaged 7 1/2 runs per game over its recent win streak, and hadn't been limited to two runs or fewer since an August 4, 2-0 win over the Cubs.