Schilling Good Enough to Beat Indians for 13th Win

Curt Schilling says he didn’t have his best fastball, breaking pitches or control. Imagine what he might have done if he had.

Schilling got his major league-leading 13th victory--and first in four starts--with a five-hitter Sunday, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.

Schilling (13-3) cruised from the opening pitch, and got his first victory since June 8 and first complete game in 16 starts.

“I didn’t have much,” he said modestly. “I wasn’t good whatsoever. They hit balls hard all day--right at us.”

The right-hander, who hadn’t faced the Indians since 1990 in relief for Baltimore, had a no-decision in his last start after losing the previous two.

But he got back on track against the struggling Indians, the AL’s worst hitting team, and improved to 8-0 in nine road starts this season. Schilling walked one and struck out five.

“It looked like Schilling didn’t even work that hard,” Indian shortstop Omar Vizquel said. “But he got a couple runs and he has such good command. He wasn’t about to give us anything.”

Junior Spivey homered and the Diamondbacks took advantage of some early wildness by starter Danys Baez (6-6), who walked four in the first inning and didn’t get through the fourth.

Jim Thome hit his 24th homer and Ellis Burks homered for the struggling Indians, who went 6-12 in interleague play and 11-15 in June--their worst month since April 1993.

Lee Stevens, acquired in the trade that sent Bartolo Colon to Montreal, played right for Cleveland. It was his first game in the outfield since Sept. 2, 1998.

Schilling snapped out of his worst mini-drought in nearly two years with a typical Schilling performance. Averaging less than one walk per game, he has walked only 13 in 131 1/3 innings.

“Curt’s actually pitched much better,” said Arizona catcher Damian Miller. “But that just shows how good he is. He can get away with things when he’s not on.”