Schilling Cruises to Eighth Victory

Arizona’s Curt Schilling couldn’t have had a smoother ride to his major league-leading eighth victory. Kris Benson’s long-anticipated return to the mound for Pittsburgh was much rougher.

Schilling pitched seven shutout innings, and Luis Gonzalez drove in four runs as the Diamondbacks ruined Benson’s return to the Pirate rotation with an 11-0 victory Monday night at Pittsburgh.

Schilling (8-1) struck out 11, walked none and gave up four hits. Gonzalez had a homer, double and single.

“It’s a quarter of the season,” Schilling said. “We’re playing better now when I pitch. They’re scoring runs and playing fantastic defense. I think if I pitched this way last year I might not have eight wins.”

Benson, making his first start after sitting out last season because of elbow surgery, gave up nine runs, seven earned, and 10 hits in 32/3 innings.

Benson rented a stadium suite to entertain 40-plus family and friends who gathered for his comeback.

San Francisco 7, Atlanta 6--An earthquake jolted Pacific Bell Park during the ninth inning, and Jeff Kent drew a bases-loaded walk in the 11th to lift the Giants.

The game was not stopped as glass panes in the front of the press box rattled with Atlanta’s Chipper Jones batting with one out in the ninth. There was no noticeable reaction from the players or the crowd of 36,331.

St. Louis 3, Chicago 0--Matt Morris pitched a four-hitter for the host Cardinals in the first game between the teams since accusations of sign-stealing last week at Chicago.

In Morris’ previous start, he gave up a home run to Sammy Sosa, prompting the Cardinals to claim Sosa got help on pitch location from his coaches.

Morris (6-2) struck out seven, walked two and retired 20 of 21 batters in one stretch. The Cardinals won for the fourth time in five games.

Cincinnati 5, Milwaukee 0--Jose Rijo, pitching on his 37th birthday, threw five scoreless innings and rookie Austin Kearns homered and drove in three runs at Milwaukee.

Rijo (3-1) gave up three hits, walked four and struck out one.

San Diego 7, Montreal 3--Mark Kotsay had four hits at San Diego, including a home run, and Ray Lankford drove in three runs to double his season total.

Lankford had three hits and Bubba Trammell drove in two runs. Lankford, whose $7.6-million salary tops the Padres, was batting .209 with one home run and three runs batted in before the game.

Houston 17, Philadelphia 3--Geoff Blum had three doubles and a career-high five runs batted in, and the host Astros set season highs for runs and hits. The Astros finished with 20 hits, but no home runs.

Colorado 7, Florida 3--Denny Stark came up from the minors to pitch six shutout innings in his NL debut, and pinch-hitter Greg Norton had a grand slam at Coors Field, where the Rockies have won seven in a row.