Brandon Webb, reigning National League Cy Young award winner, threw his third consecutive shutout against the Atlanta Braves on Friday, yielding just two hits. Even more impressively, Webb has now thrown 42 straight scoreless innings pitched. The record for most consecutive scoreless innings pitched belongs to Orel Hershiser, who set the record in 1988 with 55 innings. The hits for the Braves tonight belonged to Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francouer.

Webb would go the distance tonight, allowing just 2 hits and a walk, but striking out six. His stuff during this streak has been filthy, his sinker has worked to full effect, which is why he’s the most prolific ground ball pitcher in baseball. 12 of Webb’s 27 outs today came on ground balls. And for a complete game 102 pitches thrown is not too bad. By contrast, just a couple of weeks ago pitcher Byung Hyung Kim threw 126 pitches through 5 innings. 13 innings away, we’ll see if Webb has what it takes to throw 55+ scoreless innings. However, even if he doesn’t, his presence will definitely be known this year when it comes time to decide an NL Cy Young award winner.