Remembering Brandon Webb's shutout streak as Zac Gallen's run continues for Diamondbacks

Brandon Webb’s shutout streak of 42 innings isn’t quite a distant memory, but several moments from the run in 2007 have become less clear with the passage of time.

However, one game has stuck with those involved in the remarkable feat: Aug. 17 in Atlanta.

Matched up against the heavy hitting Braves, Webb was coming off his second consecutive  shutout. On paper, the stacked Braves lineup, with the likes of Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones, looked like a considerable threat to end Webb’s shutout streak and his chances to join an elite club..

Still, as Webb was known for his nasty sinker that confounded hitters from top to bottom, the Diamondbacks didn’t see their ace falling behind.

“When you get the three complete game shutouts, you’re going up against three teams that are three free swinging teams, which plays right into our game plan going into it,” former Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder said.

“He relied heavily on his sinker and was a contact pitcher and when you get a team that is free swinging like the Braves ... Those guys went up there with a purpose and they were ready to swing. It was a lot of ground balls, he mixed in his curveball early in the count for strikes. It was a really good pitch.”

Backed by a spectacular infield led by second baseman Orlando Hudson and shortstop Stephen Drew, Webb only gave up two hits in the game, and only one runner advanced to second base.

Once Kelly Johnson grounded out to Hudson for the final out, Webb could acknowledge the milestone he had just reached.

“I finished that game and was like, Oh my gosh,” Webb said. “Snyds came out and we did our high-five and was like, I just threw three complete game shutouts. That’s insane. We didn’t talk about it much, we’re just like, This is crazy. We went out and did our deal.”

That hot night in Atlanta became a pivotal moment in the greatest run from a Diamondbacks pitcher in history.

Fifteen years have passed since Webb set the franchise record and remains one of the few to approach Orel Hershiser’s major-league record of 59 scoreless innings set in 1988 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The mark still stands, and interest in it has renewed with Diamondbacks' right-hander Zac Gallen now second behind Webb with an ongoing streak of 34 1/3 innings.

After Webb, now an analyst for Bally Sports Arizona, interviewed Gallen during the pregame show for Wednesday’s game, he relived some of his experiences with the media.

MORE: Arizona Diamondbacks' future shines through

Gallen's streak rare in today's game

The growing presence of reporters, the shift to national attention, a higher pedestal. Webb remembered how much the attention played into his head after he went 33 scoreless innings following a 1-0 win over the Washington Nationals at Chase Field on Aug.11.

Webb  wasn’t sure if he wanted to add hype to Gallen’s current run, and play a role in some of the increased attention he himself had to deal with in 2007. But then Gallen opened up to Webb about working through the highs and lows of his current streak.

“We were actually going to ask him a question about it because he mentioned in Kansas City, which was the start before the last one (against Philadelphia), he started thinking about it a lot. And started trying to throw up zeroes for not the right reason," Webb said. "As pitchers, we’re supposed to go out there and not give up any runs. He was doing that, but he was doing it for the wrong reasons and it started making him nervous.

"He caught himself and he said, I’m not doing that, I’m just going to go out there and pitch my game. If I end up giving up a run, it happens and then it wasn’t supposed to be. Which was good because I wish I could’ve done that to myself when I was around the 38 to 42 mark. It would’ve been good advice to myself."

Gallen’s feat is remarkable in its own way with the current strength of bullpens and increased management of starters’ workloads. For him to go near Webb’s scoreless streak in this age of baseball is a different beast. During Gallen's streak, dating back five starts starting Aug. 8 against Pittsburgh, the longest he's gone in any game is 7 1/3 innings.

This reinforces how rare Webb’s three consecutive shutouts were. Over the past 24 years, Webb is one of three pitchers to achieve that feat, along with the New York Yankees' Roger Clemens in 1998 and Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee, the last to do it in 2011.

“You get five or six good innings and (the managers and pitching coaches are) good. They may let you go through a third time in the lineup but if you’re trying to go four times through the lineup, it doesn’t happen often," Webb said. "The three in a row, I wouldn’t say would never happen, but it would be unlikely."

Webb’s stretch of complete game shutouts also came in early August, a time where teams prefer to conserve energy from their starters for a potential postseason run.

“It’s extremely difficult to do and you’ve got to be doing a lot of things right to accomplish that,” Snyder said. 

Webb’s pitch count during the stretch seemed low at the time, but would be considered a stretch now. He threw 102 pitches against the Dodgers, 119 pitches against the Nationals and 102 pitches against the Braves. 

“In today’s terms, I don’t know when something like that will ever happen or who could do that. What manager or what front office would let that happen with the analytics involved and the starting pitchers and the strengths of these bullpens, I really don’t know if that’s something you could see,” Snyder said.

For Webb, the scoreless streak didn’t hit him until it stretched past 30 innings after his second consecutive shutout on Aug.11. But his individual stats weren’t weighing heavily on him at the time. The previous season, 2006, the year he won the NL Cy Young Award, Webb pitched 30 scoreless innings with two consecutive shutouts, a feat that he forgot about until recently.

Webb energized playoff push

What mattered to Webb, and what sparked his dominant 2007 run, was a chance to turn the season around for a young team on the bubble of something special.

After taking only one of four games at Milwaukee, the Diamondbacks were 50-47 when the arrived in Chicago to play the Cubs. The path of the rest of the season had to be determined with the Diamondbacks sitting in third place in the National League West.

“We were on the fence at that time and we ended up having a team meeting at the hotel," Snyder said. "We decided we can either go either one of two ways. We can either cash it in and make some trades and pick some prospects up, or we can get after it and see where that takes us."

Even though the Diamondbacks dropped their first game in Chicago with Webb on the mound, the entire team saw his intensity and wanted to match it. From then on, the Diamondbacks began a thrilling stretch with eight-straight wins, including three consecutive walk-offs, and Webb started reaching a new level.

“He really set the tone knowing that if you’re going to have a guy like that — the scoreless innings streak aside — you’re going to have a guy that’s going to compete and hold the other team in check and give you the opportunity where if you’re only going to score a couple of runs and have a chance to win, that absolutely builds confidence when you get a guy like that once every five days,” Snyder said.

What helped Webb was the matched response from his teammates. Meetings between him and Snyder were short and simple. With a steady diet of sinkers and curveballs on the side, not much needed to be done with Webb around that time. 

Only manager Bob Melvin played into superstitions and didn’t talk to Webb until the scoreless streak ended on Aug. 22 against the Brewers. By then, a month had passed since Melvin and Webb had spoken.  

Seeing the streak end during the first inning wasn’t ideal, but the fact that Webb was two complete games away from an untouchable record set by Hershiser showed how impressive it was. Losing the streak didn’t wear down Webb’s performance either. 

“It’s tough and it’s one of those things, but as baseball players and as professionals, you’re out there and those things are engrained in you. You just keep moving on,” Snyder said. “Webby was probably epitomized the guy that did not get too high, did not get too low. You’re going to get the same guy every start.” 

The young group was further energized by the stretch and carried it over to win its first NL West title since 2002. The Diamondbacks made it to the NL Championship Series before falling to the Colorado Rockies.

While the current team isn’t in the same position as the 2007 club regarding the postseason, there’s still an exciting crop of young talent surrounding a dominant pitcher.

This time around Webb can sit back and watch yet another exciting moment for the franchise.

“He’s got better stuff than me. I had two good pitches, he’s got like four good pitches," Webb said. "He locates better than I did. He just executes pitches better. He throws the ball exactly where he wants to. He’s special and it’s super fun to watch, I enjoy watching someone out there who has a game plan and executes a game plan like he can."

Reach the reporter at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com or 602-647-4122. Follow her on Twitter @jennarortiz. 

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: From Webb to Gallen: Diamondbacks pitchers and their remarkable runs