Webb, Zambrano ready to duel in desert

Arizona has home-field advantage over Central champion Chicago.

PHOENIX (AP) — Brandon Webb is a quiet Kentuckian, Carlos Zambrano an emotional Venezuelan.

Their common bond is talent, and their duel in the desert tonight will go a long way toward determining the outcome of the division series between Webb’s Arizona Diamondbacks and Zambrano’s Chicago Cubs.

Chicago second baseman Mark DeRosa called Webb “one of the best pitchers in the game.”

“But they’ve got to face ‘Z’ too, so it’s not going to be easy for them,” DeRosa said Tuesday. “It’s going to be one of those things where the first team to grab the momentum is going to have a nice day.”

Aces on deck

Going into Game 1 of the best-of-5 NL division series, both aces are on a roll.

Webb (18-10) is 10-2 since the All-Star break. He allowed two runs in seven innings Friday at Colorado in a 4-2 victory that clinched a playoff berth for the young Diamondbacks. It was the Rockies’ only loss in their last 15 games.

“He’s the most even-keeled guy you could ever meet,” Arizona catcher Chris Snyder said. “He’s not going to get too high, he’s not going to get too down on himself. He’s just going to go about his business, throw his game and whatever happens, happens.”

Zambrano (18-13) didn’t allow a run in his last two outings, six innings in an 8-0 victory over Pittsburgh on Sept. 23 and seven innings in a 6-0 win at Cincinnati on Friday night when the Cubs clinched the NL Central title.

Most competitive

“He’s probably the most competitive guy I’ve ever met,” DeRosa said, “just a fiery individual who wants the ball in the big moment, and he’s going to get it.”

Arizona won the season series with the Cubs 4-2 but never faced Zambrano. It could be an eye-opener for the youngsters Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin will have in his lineup.

“We don’t have a lot of postseason experience,” Melvin said. “We’ll see how that plays out. Our guys are pretty excitable. They like to go out there and play.”

Goal is calm

Zambrano insists he won’t wear his emotions on his sleeve when he takes the mound.

“I don’t want to be pumped up,” he said. “I just want to be calm and let the moment come, let the game come and pitch my game. I don’t want to be too excited. Sometimes when you are too excited, you’re trying to do too much, that’s when the problem comes, when you don’t have control of yourself.”

This from a player who punched his catcher, Michael Barrett, in the dugout and then continued the fight in the clubhouse earlier this season.

A World Series title would be the first for the Cubs since 1908 and would bring elation to a legion of long-suffering fans.

“I think we realize if we’re the team to get it done how special it would be,” DeRosa said, “but we can’t worry about all that.

“We can’t carry the weight of 99 years and family traditions and all of that stuff. We just have to go out and play baseball and if it happens reap the benefits of it.”