Hershiser Can Relateto Schilling’s Success

Curt Schilling is having the best postseason of any starting pitcher since Orel Hershiser, dominating opponents in three consecutive complete games for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The right-hander is the first pitcher to accomplish the feat since Hershiser did it while leading the Dodgers to their 1988 World Series championship, and Schilling has impressed the 200-game winner.

“I’m definitely enjoying it,” Hershiser said Saturday in a phone interview. “I watch him, I have a lot of respect for what he’s doing, and I can definitely relate to what he’s going through. He’s really raising the bar for that whole ballclub. He gives that whole team a lot of confidence.

“He’s been a good leader for Randy Johnson. As much as Randy is a leader on that team, he’s a good leader for Randy. He gives him a great peer. As a fan and as an [ESPN] analyst, you just continue to marvel at great athletes performing at a very high level at a crucial time of the season.”

Hershiser attended several of the Diamondbacks’ regular-season games in his first season with ESPN, and thought he had seen Schilling at his best until his remarkable playoff run.

The four-time all-star is 3-0 with a 0.67 earned-run average after tossing a four-hitter Friday in a 5-1 victory against the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the National League championship series at Turner Field. In 27 innings, Schilling has given up 13 hits with 30 strikeouts and only four walks.

“He’s been so locked in as far as his control and his command,” Hershiser said. “To be able to continue to dominate, you have to be locating the ball, and that’s what’s most impressive. A lot of people would say that he’s got awesome velocity or an awesome split-finger [pitch], but he continues to have command of his fastball. That’s setting up all the other pitches, and his ability to go deep into the games.”

*

When trying to figure out what happened Friday in the pivotal fifth inning--when Javy Lopez cost the Braves two runs by failing to catch a throw to the plate--you must go back to Sept. 30.

That was when Lopez was crunched at home plate by the New York Mets’ Robin Ventura. He suffered a sprained ankle that put him on the bench for a couple of weeks.

With the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Schilling bearing down on him from third base Friday, Lopez missed the ball because he was afraid of getting hurt again.

“If I would have gotten the ball, the runner would have killed me,” Lopez said. “I screwed up.”

TODAY

DIAMONDBACKS’ RANDY JOHNSON

(1-1, 1.59 ERA)

vs.

BRAVES’ TOM GLAVINE

(2-0, 0.60 ERA)

Turner Field, 4:45 p.m.

TV--Channel 11 or Fox Sports Net

Update--Johnson was outstanding in a 2-0 victory in Game 1, giving up only three hits and striking out 11 in a complete game. Glavine, who will be working on three days’ rest, pitched seven strong innings in Game 2 and got the victory.