Webb, D-Backs polish off Dodgers

Defending Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb had a full plate Wednesday.

All that was asked of him was to eat innings to save a depleted bullpen, to annul the momentum the Los Angeles Dodgers had built in winning the first two games of the series and to keep the game close enough that a Diamondbacks offense that was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position the previous two nights would have a chance.

Webb did all that.

And it was just enough.

Webb pitched seven shutout innings and three relievers finished off a 2-0 victory as the D-Backs beat Los Angeles for the first time in five games at Chase Field this season.

“That’s what your No. 1 pitcher is supposed to do, stop the bleeding and get out there and give your team a good chance to win,” Webb said.

“The bullpen was pretty well spent. I wanted to go deep in the game and give them a little bit of a rest, and I was able to do that. It was definitely satisfying.”

Closer and All-Star candidate Jose Valverde got the final four outs, the first time he has pitched more than one inning this season, for his 25th save.

Valverde entered with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning and got Rafael Furcal on a routine ground ball to second base. The Dodgers left their 11th, 12th and 13th runners of the game on base.

Juan Cruz, used in a setup role for the first time this season, struck out the previous batter, Olmedo Saenz.

“The pitching was unbelievable today,” said manager Bob Melvin, who was without reliever Tony Pena and would have used Brandon Lyon and Doug Slaten only in an emergency because of their recent workload.

“We could have lost it all in that one inning (eighth). The Saenz at-bat was huge. Then Valverde comes in and closes it out. We like to bring in Jose in a clean inning. We don’t like to have men on. But with the limitations we had down there, we had to do it.”

The D-Backs (45-34) leap-frogged the Dodgers and are in a virtual tie with San Diego for first place in the NL West as Randy Johnson prepares to face Randy Wolf in the final game of the four-game series this afternoon.

“I guess you can say this is a confidence builder,” said Chad Tracy, whose sacrifice fly in the first inning gave the D-Backs a lead they never lost and who started a double play to end the fifth.

“We have plenty of confidence we can beat these guys.”

Melvin called it the “biggest series of the year, to an extent,” but as far as Wednesday being a must-win game, “it really isn’t.”

“You go through stretches, you lose your series. You look around the league and watching other teams lose three in a row. Big deal. But when you are part of it, it seems like it is much more important.

“If there was a must-win (game) this year, that was it. But we still have a long way to go.”

Webb (8-5) dropped his ERA to a season-low 3.05 while taking a step toward a second consecutive All-Star berth, although it was not easy.

He gave up eight hits and walked five, one intentionally, but stranded four runners on second base and one on third.

Webb benefited from the double play started by Tracy, two force-outs on potential sacrifice bunts started by catcher Chris Snyder and an outfield assist by Eric Byrnes, playing right, who threw out Luis Gonzalez attempting to stretch a single into a double leading off the sixth.

“Stuff-wise, I didn’t have very good stuff,” Webb said. “It’s funny how the game goes. I had great stuff last game and got hammered (a 7-1 loss to Baltimore). I felt I had to battle the whole game to scratch out seven.”