Rockies Rough Up Schilling

On those rare occasions when Curt Schilling appears vulnerable, opposing hitters know they must take advantage. And the Colorado Rockies did.

Todd Helton hit a three-run homer, highlighting a four-run first inning off Schilling, and the Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-3, Sunday at Coors Field for their fourth straight win.

“I noticed Schilling was missing with his fastball early in counts,” Helton said.

“Usually, that’s his pitch to get ahead. He made some adjustments after that and pitched pretty good.

“I don’t know if it was the weather [36 degrees] or whatever, but it took a little bit for him to get going. He hung a two-strike curveball to me.”

Schilling (0-1) and Randy Johnson are a combined 0-2 after two starts each this season.

The two-time defending NL West champions have lost four in a row and are 1-5, equaling the worst start in their six-year history. The Diamondbacks also opened 1-5 in their inaugural season of 1998.

Schilling, who pitched seven shutout innings before giving up four runs in the eighth inning Tuesday against the Dodgers, yielded six hits and five runs in five innings.

The Rockies sent nine batters to the plate in the first. Chris Stynes led off with a four-pitch walk, Gabe Kapler singled and Helton homered to right. After Preston Wilson drew a four-pitch walk and Jose Hernandez hit an infield single, Brent Butler hit a run-scoring single to right.

San Francisco 5, Milwaukee 0 -- The Giants remained unbeaten despite resting half their starters, beating the winless Brewers at Milwaukee.

Giant Manager Felipe Alou held Barry Bonds, Ray Durham, Benito Santiago and J.T. Snow out of the starting lineup, but the club that played was good enough to match the 6-0 start of last season. The Brewers are 0-6 for the first time in franchise history.

Kirk Rueter (1-0), making his second start of the season, continued his mastery of Milwaukee, pitching six innings and yielding five hits and four walks. In 10 starts against the Brewers, he is 7-1 with a 1.78 earned-run average.

Montreal 8, New York 5 -- Jeff Liefer hit a three-run homer off Armando Benitez in the top of the ninth inning at New York.

Endy Chavez led off the inning with a single and advanced on a one-out wild pitch. Benitez walked Vladimir Guerrero after getting ahead 1-and-2, then gave up the homer to Liefer, which gave the Expos a 7-5 lead.

Benitez (0-1) entered with a 5-4 lead provided by Tony Clark, who hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning in his debut with the Mets.

Pittsburgh 2, Philadelphia 0 -- Kris Benson (2-0) pitched seven shutout innings to stop the Phillies at Philadelphia. He gave up six hits and a walk. He struck out six.

The only run he needed came in the fifth inning and was unearned and came without the ball leaving the infield.

With one out, Benson hit a high pop that first baseman Jim Thome lost in the sun. Benson went to second on a bunt single by Kenny Lofton. A walk to Jason Kendall loaded the bases. Benson scored on a groundout by Brian Giles.

Atlanta 13, Florida 4 -- The Braves bounced back from their most lopsided loss in three seasons and routed the Marlins at Atlanta.

One day after Greg Maddux was rocked for three homers and nine runs in only two innings of a 17-1 loss, the Braves responded quickly against Brad Penny (0-1).

Chipper Jones had a two-run single and Andruw Jones followed with a two-run double in the first inning. Andruw Jones went three for five with a homer and four RBIs.

Cincinnati 5, Chicago 4 -- Sean Casey’s tiebreaking solo homer with two out in the eighth inning enabled the Reds to complete a disappointing 2-4 homestand in their new ballpark.

Kerry Wood couldn’t hold a 4-0 lead as the Reds registered their first come-from-behind victory. Austin Kearns hit a solo homer in the second to start the comeback, and singled and scored on Casey’s double to center in the fourth.

Casey drove in three runs, including a homer off Mark Guthrie (0-1).

Houston at St. Louis, ppd. -- The game was rained out and has been tentatively rescheduled for Thursday, May 29.

It was the 57th regular season game to be postponed in Busch Stadium’s 37-year history and the first since April 24, 2000.