Schilling’s 17th Victory Sets Him Apart

Curt Schilling got his 17th victory--four more than anyone else--and Luis Gonzalez drove in four runs as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Colorado Rockies, 5-1, Monday night at Phoenix.

Gonzalez and Matt Williams homered for the Diamondbacks, who maintained sole possession of first place in the National League West.

Schilling (17-3) gave up one run and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings, earning his 11th consecutive victory over a division opponent.

He walked three--only the fifth time in 22 starts he has given up more than one walk-- and struck out eight to finish with a major league-leading 205 strikeouts.

But Schilling needed help in the eighth, when he gave up singles to Juan Pierre and Larry Walker before Mike Myers walked Todd Helton to load the bases with one out.

Mike Fetters retired Todd Zeile on an RBI groundout before Todd Hollandsworth flied out.

Schilling gave up a two-out hit to Todd Hollandsworth in the seventh, then walked Juan Uribe and pinch-hitter Greg Norton before pinch-hitter Terry Shumpert popped up.

Schilling has won seven in a row against Colorado in 14 starts dating to a 4-1 loss at Coors Field on June 13, 1996, when he was with Philadelphia.

Mike Hampton (5-12), who lost, 12-3, to Schilling and the Diamondbacks on Wednesday in one of the worst starts of his career, gave up three runs and five hits--including the homers by Williams and Gonzalez--in six innings.

St. Louis 5, San Francisco 3--Edgar Renteria hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the ninth inning as the Cardinals defeated the Giants at San Francisco.

The Cardinals survived a surprise pinch-hit appearance by Barry Bonds with two out and a man on base in the ninth inning. Bonds, who has been out since injuring his right hamstring Friday, limped to the plate before striking out on a 3-2 pitch from Jason Isringhausen to end the game.

St. Louis took the lead in the top half, breaking a 3-3 tie. Placido Polanco led off with a double off Tim Worrell (7-1), who intentionally walked Jim Edmonds and walked Albert Pujols to load the bases.

After Robb Nen relieved, Tino Martinez popped out to shortstop for the first out before Renteria’s shot to the wall in right field scored Polanco and Edmonds.

Pittsburgh 6, Cincinnati 5--Ken Griffey Jr. returned to the Red lineup with two singles and a sacrifice fly, but Brian Giles tripled and homered as the Pirates took an early lead and held on at Cincinnati.

Griffey, out with a pulled hamstring since June 24, only jogged after he hit the ball and went two for three with a walk and a seventh-inning sacrifice fly to the warning track.

While they waited for Texas starter Kenny Rogers to decide whether he would accept a trade to Cincinnati, the Reds watched Ryan Dempster (5-11) get rocked for the third time since he arrived in a deal with Florida.

Florida 2, Atlanta 1--A.J. Burnett gave up a run in six innings at Miami as the Marlins handed Greg Maddux his first loss in 16 starts and ended the Braves’ six-game winning streak while winning their fourth in a row.

Maddux (9-3) lost for the first time since April 30. Since then, he was 7-0 with a 2.28 earned-run average.

New York 5, Montreal 2--Pinch-hitter Marco Scutaro made a name for himself at Shea Stadium with his first major league hit, a two-run triple off Tomo Ohka (8-5) that broke a seventh-inning tie and sent the Mets to victory.

The Mets, scrambling back into the NL wild-card race, won for the seventh time in nine games. Mo Vaughn hit his 15th homer, David Weathers (4-3) got the victory and Armando Benitez closed for his 24th save.

Chicago 7, Philadelphia 6--Sammy Sosa hit his 30th homer and singled home the tying run during a ninth-inning rally as the Cubs won at Chicago.

Fred McGriff hit a game-winning RBI double for the Cubs.

Bobby Abreu put the Phillies ahead, 6-5, with a ninth-inning homer off Kyle Farnsworth (3-1), helping Philadelphia overcome a 5-0 deficit.

Houston 3, Milwaukee 1--Wade Miller pitched seven strong innings at Houston to defeat the Brewers for the 10th time in 11 decisions.

Miller (7-3) retired 14 of the first 16 hitters and didn’t allow a baserunner to advance past first until the sixth. He gave up one run and six hits to improve his ERA to 2.63 against the Brewers.