Schilling Is First to Reach 20

Curt Schilling became baseball’s first 20-game winner, striking out 12 as the Arizona Diamondbacks kept Barry Bonds in check and defeated the San Francisco Giants, 7-2, Wednesday night at San Francisco.

Schilling (20-6) won 20 for the first time in his 14-year career, holding the Giants to one run and five hits over eight innings. He retired his final 14 batters.

The first 20-game winner in Diamondback history helped himself at the plate. He had a career-best three hits and scored two runs as Arizona ended a four-game losing streak.

After losing the series opener Tuesday night, Arizona pushed its National League West lead back to 21/2 games over the Giants, who remained a half-game behind the Cubs in the wild-card race.

Bonds hit his 59th homer Tuesday, but he must wait at least another day to become the fifth player in baseball history to hit 60.

Schilling struck out Bonds in the first inning, walked him in the third and got him on a fly ball to center in the fifth.

Craig Counsell matched his career-high with four hits and scored four runs to lead the Diamondbacks’ balanced 16-hit attack. Reggie Sanders also had three hits.

Luis Gonzalez and Steve Finley drove in two runs apiece for the Diamondbacks.

Following a bit of early trouble, Schilling hit his stride by striking out Jeff Kent and John Vander Wal with two runners on in the third. He faced the minimum 15 batters over the next five innings.

Schilling pitched for most of the night with a slim lead. Arizona put away the game in the eighth on Finley’s two-run single.

Russ Ortiz (14-9), the Giants’ leader in victories and strikeouts, wasn’t up to his duel with Schilling. He allowed seven hits and three runs in 42/3innings--his second-shortest start of the season.

After starting July by winning six of seven decisions, Ortiz has lost three straight starts.

The Giants briefly led when Ramon Martinez singled home J.T. Snow in the second inning with the game’s first run. Arizona went up in the third on Gonzalez’s run-scoring double and Sanders’ RBI single.

Florida 7, Chicago 6--Preston Wilson hit a three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Marlins a victory over the Cubs at Miami.

The Cubs dropped five games behind Houston in the NL Central race. They began the day with a half-game lead over San Francisco for the wild card.

Wilson connected off Tom Gordon (1-2) for his 19th home run of the season.

Pinch-hitter John Mabry singled to start the ninth and Derrek Lee was hit by a pitch with one out. After Gordon retired Cliff Floyd on a fly ball, Wilson homered on a 1-2 pitch.

Kevin Millar hit a home run, doubled and drove in three runs for Florida, which trailed, 5-1, in the eighth.

The Marlins won consecutive games for the first time since July 31-Aug. 1 at Milwaukee. They have won only six of their last 24 overall.

Houston 10, Cincinnati 3--Vinny Castilla homered, doubled twice and drove in six runs as the Astros shook up their struggling lineup and defeated the Reds at Cincinnati.

With Jeff Bagwell and Moises Alou watching from the bench, Castilla led the Astros to their best offensive showing in more than two weeks. His six RBIs matched his career high.

Nearly every Astro hit the ball hard--starter Dave Mlicki even got his second hit of the season--as Houston won for the 15th time in 19 games and moved a season-high 25 games over .500.

The NL Central leaders took the field four games ahead of the second-place Cubs, but worried about their lagging offense. Impeccable pitching has led the surge into first.

Manager Larry Dierker decided to rest Bagwell for the first time this season and give the slumping Alou a day to regroup. Alou is in a 2-for-18 slide that has dropped his average to .342, second in the NL to Larry Walker.

Castilla, batting his customary seventh in the retooled order, hit a three-run homer in the second inning off Chris Reitsma (7-14), who gave up eight runs in 42/3innings.

Castilla hit a run-scoring double in a three-run fourth, then doubled home two more off Jim Brower to complete a three-run fifth that made it 9-2.

Montreal 10, Atlanta 4--Vladimir Guerrero hit a run-scoring single for his 500th career run batted in and added his 33rd home run in the Expos’ victory before another small gathering at Montreal.

The game drew 3,806. A day earlier, the Expos and Braves attracted only 3,613--the second-lowest crowd in Olympic Stadium history.

The Braves remained three games ahead of Philadelphia in the NL East.

Atlanta’s Julio Franco homered off Mike Thurman (8-10) with two out in the third for his first major league home run since Sept. 24, 1997.

St. Louis 2, San Diego 0--Woody Williams threw six perfect innings against his former Padre teammates two nights after rookie Bud Smith pitched a no-hitter, and the Cardinals finished off a three-game sweep at San Diego.

Williams didn’t allow a runner until rookie D’Angelo Jimenez lofted a fly ball into the left-center gap that fell in for a single on the first pitch of the seventh.

Jimenez tried to stretch it into a double and was thrown out by center fielder Jim Edmonds.

Williams (12-9), traded by the Padres to the Cardinals on Aug. 2 for outfielder Ray Lankford, pitched a career-best two-hitter and faced the minimum 27 batters.

New York 7, Philadelphia 4--Robin Ventura had three RBIs with a single, double and home run as the surging Mets completed a three-game sweep at Philadelphia as the free-falling Phillies have lost four in a row and 15 of 20.

Before the game, Philadelphia Manager Larry Bowa chastised his team for not showing enough urgency despite being in contention for a playoff spot.

Pittsburgh 5, Milwaukee 1--Todd Ritchie pitched a three-hitter at Pittsburgh and the Pirates recorded their first three-game winning streak in more than two months.

The Pirates, with the worst record in the National League at 53-86, hadn’t won three consecutive games since defeating the Reds in Cincinnati July 2-4. Ritchie (11-12) is trying to become the first pitcher since 1900 to begin a season with eight losses and finish with at least a .500 record.