Arizona Might Hold All Aces

By TEDDY GREENSTEIN

Oct. 10, 2001 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

PHOENIX —

How do you decide between a Mercedes or a BMW? Between vacationing on the Amalfi Coast or the south of France?

Arizona Diamondback Manager Bob Brenly faced such a decision before Game 1 of the National League division series against St. Louis. Which ace would he start, Curt Schilling or Randy Johnson?

Brenly chose Schilling, explaining it simply as a “manager’s decision.”

And as it turned out, a very wise one.

Schilling turned in one of the finest performances in playoff history Tuesday night, firing a three-hit shutout in Arizona’s 1-0 win. The 34-year-old right-hander struck out nine batters, walked one and gave up only three hits in beating Matt Morris.

“I learned from some games earlier in the season when I gave up solo home runs,” Schilling said. “My concentration was on tonight. I had a good flow late in the game.”

Brenly could have pulled Schilling after eight innings. Some managers undoubtedly would have.

With two outs and runners on first and second in the eighth, Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa intentionally walked catcher Damian Miller to load the bases and force Brenly’s hand.

Would he remove Schilling for a pinch-hitter such as David Dellucci or Erubiel Durazo?

Schilling didn’t think he would. After Miller walked, Schilling didn’t even glance back at the dugout to see if he would be replaced. The Bank One Ballpark crowd of 42,251--almost 7,000 fewer than capacity--rose to applaud the decision.

“I’d like to say I had confidence that Curt would drive in a run,” Brenly said. “But he was the guy we wanted out there in the ninth; it was as simple as that. Curt Schilling deserved the chance to finish that ballgame.”

Schilling didn’t allow the Cardinals to take so much as a breath in the ninth. He struck out J.D. Drew, got a pop foul from Albert Pujols and induced a harmless groundout from Jim Edmonds to end the game.

Schilling celebrated by pumping his fist and hugging first baseman Mark Grace, who went two for three with a walk.

“This is the way we’ve won games over last couple of weeks,” Schilling said. “It’s easy to do stuff when no one gets the credit.”

The game was scoreless until the fifth, when Steve Finley lined Morris’ belt-high 2-1 fastball into center field to score Miller. That proved to be enough.

“Curt Schilling is one of most prepared pitchers I’ve ever played behind,” Finley said. “He executed his game plan to a T tonight. And when he’s on like that, the offense just needs to put up a couple of runs and it’s game over.”

The Diamondbacks had threatened in the first, putting runners at second and third with nobody out. But Morris used his curveball to retire the heart of Arizona’s lineup.

“The tone was set in the first inning when Matt shut us down,” Schilling said. “In my mind, it was going to be a one-run game.”

Schilling, by throwing the ninth shutout in division series history, improved to 2-1 in the postseason while lowering his lifetime earned-run average to 1.08.

Schilling didn’t allow a runner to reach third base. His biggest threat came in the seventh, when Edmonds ripped a one-out double to right-center field.

But Schilling got a groundout from Mark McGwire, who went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, and struck out Edgar Renteria on a 96-mph fastball.

“Let’s be clear,” Schilling said. “One run is not a cushion. One run is a lead.

“You pitch differently. You know some guys are coming to the plate to try to tie the game. Some guys are apt to bunt. I tried to position my defense because you don’t want to fluke your way into a run.”

There would be no fluke runs for the Cardinals on Tuesday. No runs of any kind.

Teddy Greenstein is a staff writer for the Chicago Tribune.

NL PLAYOFFS

Division Series; Best of five

ARIZONA VS. ST. LOUIS

Game 1

Arizona 1, St. Louis 0

Game 2--Today

at Arizona, 1:15 p.m., Fox Family

Starters--Cardinal RH Woody Williams (15-9, 4.05) vs. Diamondback LH Randy Johnson (21-6, 2.49)

HOUSTON VS. ATLANTA

Game 1