Schilling’s Effort Not a Total Waste

Once again, the Philadelphia bats failed to reward Curt Schilling for a tremendous outing. But at least Doug Glanville kept them from losing the game.

Schilling struck out nine and held Cincinnati scoreless in nine innings. But the Phillies failed to score until Glanville’s two-out single in the 10th inning scored Desi Relaford with the only run in a 1-0 victory for the Phillies on Tuesday night, their fourth consecutive victory.

“I was aware of his sinker but I felt he would go after me with the slider,” said Glanville of Red reliever Danny Graves. “It works when you get what you’re looking for in that type of situation.”

Glanville, who leads the Phillies with 24 hits, also had the game-winning single against Florida on April 17. With hits in 11 of his last 12 games, Glanville has lifted his average from .190 to .324. He is hitting .377 over that span.

“I’m just starting to feel comfortable at the plate,” Glanville said. “I’m getting some really good swings in now and it’s a great way to start a nine-game homestand.”

About the only down part was the failure of the team to get Schilling the victory. Jeff Brantley (1-0) got the win in relief.

Schilling, who has seen plenty of strong performances turn into no-decisions or even losses with the Phillies, was able to work out of two late-innings jams to keep the game scoreless. In the seventh, Barry Larkin hit a two-out, ground-rule double but was stranded when Schilling fanned Eddie Taubensee.

In the eighth, former Phillie Mark Lewis led off with a double. Chris Stynes came in to pinch run and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Pokey Reese. However, Schilling struck out Brian Johnson and Mike Cameron to end the inning, both on 96-mph fastballs.

“There’s a moment in every game when a pitcher realizes the game is on the line and you need to reach back and make quality pitches with your best stuff,” Schilling said. “That’s the way I looked at the eighth inning.”

Cincinnati starter Denny Neagle matched Schilling in his second start since spending time on the disabled list because of a strained thigh. He threw 93 pitches over six innings, giving up five singles, walking two and striking out four.

“I thought he pitched good,” Red Manager Jack McKeon said. “He was up in the strike zone a little early, but made pitches to get outs. We wanted to keep him under 100 pitches.”