Diamondbacks Get a Real Gem From Schilling

Curt Schilling has overwhelmed most opponents and the Dodgers are no exception.

The Arizona Diamondback starter dominated the Dodgers for the third time this season in an efficient 4-1 victory Wednesday night at Bank One Ballpark.

Schilling (10-1) tossed a six-hitter--Shawn Green’s one-out homer in the ninth ended his shutout bid--in winning his sixth in a row against the Dodgers and helping Arizona take the third game of the series before 31,046.

“We got beat tonight by one of the best in the business,” Manager Jim Tracy said of the majors’ first 10-game winner. “In my mind, he’s throwing the ball right now about as well as I’ve seen him throw.

“He was never missing by much at all with many of his pitches. We had to try to create an opportunity for ourselves, but he didn’t give us a chance to do that.

“We couldn’t put any hits together and put him in any kind of a bind and that’s a credit to him. He’s just locked in right now.”

Schilling improved to 3-0 with a 0.72 earned-run average against the Dodgers in 2001.

And Wednesday’s eight-strikeout, no-walk, 128-pitch outing was not even the right-hander’s best.

He had a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts April 10 in a 2-0 victory at Bank One Ballpark.

“One of the things I’ve been proud of in my nine years [with the Philadelphia Phillies] is that every time I took the ball they expected me to win,” said Schilling, who retired 13 in a row after Paul Lo Duca opened the game with a single. “I love that.”

Jay Bell and Damian Miller also hit home runs to help National League West-leading Arizona (35-24) rebound from consecutive losses to the second-place Dodgers (33-26).

With Schilling as his counterpart, Dodger starter Luke Prokopec (6-2) had to be especially sharp.

He was not.

The rookie right-hander gave up nine hits--including the Diamondbacks’ homers--and four runs in six innings.

Schilling provided a lesson.

“He put on a clinic,” said Prokopec, who has had two mediocre starts on the trip that ends today. “He showed me what, basically, I didn’t do. What I could have done if I had got ahead early in the counts. That’s what happens when you get behind in the counts.

“Just about every time I got hit tonight was when I fell behind hitters. You have to throw one down the guts and try to get ahead and prevent the walks. That’s what happened. I didn’t do what Curt did: get ahead of the guys early.”

Leading, 1-0, the Diamondbacks added a run in the fourth. Steve Finley singled with one out and scored from first when Miller doubled to right-center field.

Miller also led off the sixth with his second homer on a full count to give the Diamondbacks a 4-0 lead.

Bell’s one-out solo homer in the first, his ninth, also came on a full count. The shot into the Diamondbacks’ bullpen in left field hit the top of the dugout’s yellow-padded screen fence.

Tracy said Prokopec was only a little out of sync.

“Our young guy did a very credible job,” said Tracy, whose club is 3-3 on the trip. “The one thing I think that may have led to them scoring a couple of their runs was the fact that he was having a little bid of difficulty making the two-strike pitch with his breaking ball.

“He was missing with his breaking ball. He kind of had the advantage and gave it back because he was missing with that pitch and had to come back and throw something they were looking for.”

With two out in the fifth, Mark Grudzielanek and Adrian Beltre had consecutive singles, but Jeff Reboulet struck out to end the inning.

Green’s team-leading 15th homer prevented Schilling from throwing shutouts in consecutive starts against the Dodgers.

“We just couldn’t string any hits together, that was pretty much the key,” Marquis Grissom said. “He threw the ball well.”