SCHILLING FANS 17 IN D-BACKS VICTORY
8 Straight Brewers K

PHOENIX, Apr. 12 (AP) - Curt Schilling struck out 17 Milwaukee Brewers hitters in an overpowering performance that left him victorious--but one batter shy of a complete game--as the Arizona Diamondbacks eked out a 3-2 win at Bank One Ballpark.  Schilling struck out eight batters in a row at one point, from the last out of the third inning through the first out of the sixth and walked no one.  He was pulled to a raucous standing ovation from the 41,747 fans in attendance with two outs in the ninth inning.  Schilling fanned at least one batter in every inning until the eighth.

Despite the frequent whiffs, the Brewers actually held the lead for the first half of the contest.  Alex Sanchez led off the game with a double and Eric Young followed with a two-bagger of his own to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.  A tone was set in the first frame, however; Schilling struck out both Richie Sexson, who fanned four times in all, and Geoff Jenkins.

Schilling had already struck out five through 2 2/3 and then blew a fastball past Young to end the third.  That began the streak of eight straight strikeout victims, which ended with a swinging third strike by mound opponent Matt Kinney.  At that point, Schilling had fanned 13 for the game.  Sanchez broke the streak by looping a single over the head of shortstop Tony Womack, but the Brewers center fielder was gunned down trying to steal second.  Schilling yielded another base hit off the bat of Young, but then fanned Sexson for his 14th strikeout.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks had taken the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Chad Moeller drew a one-out walk and Schilling dropped a two-strike bunt down, successfully sacrificing the runner to second.  Womack then came up with a bit two out hit, lining a Kinney offering to center, scoring Moeller and tying the game.  The Arizona second baseman then stole second base and came home on a single off the bat of Carlos Baerga.  The Diamondbacks added to their lead with a solo run in the sixth, on Steve Finley's solo home run into the seats in right field.

Armed with a 3-1 lead, Schilling blew Jenkins away for his 15th strikeout to lead off the seventh, but then retired the next five batters without fanning any of them.  The Arizona starter had thrown 106 pitches through eight innings, but manager Bob Brenly allowed Schilling to begin the ninth.  Right on cue, the right-hander fanned Sanchez for his 16th strikeout, then surrendered Young's third hit of the game--a single to right-center.  Schilling came back to get Sexson on strikes for the fourth and final tap, capping the "K" column at 17.  With the fans on their feet urging Schilling on Jenkins crushed a 1-1 fastball into the left-center field gap for a triple, scoring Young and cutting the Diamondbacks lead to a single run.  At that point, with Schilling appearing gassed and having thrown 117 pitches, Brenly summoned closer Matt Mantei from the bullpen to face Jeffrey Hammonds.  The count went to 3-2 before Mantei induced a fly ball to Finley in center to end the game.

Every Brewer in the starting lineup struck out at least once.  In addition to getting Sexson all four times he came to the plate, Schilling struck out Jenkins three times and got Wes Helms, Royce Clayton and Kinney twice each.

Schilling now has the two highest strikeout games in the young season.  He fanned 13 Dodgers in a 4-0 complete game shutout victory on April 1.  The previous high for consecutive strikeouts by a pitcher was five, set by Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs against the Cincinnati Reds on April 6.

4/12/2003, Mil03-Ari03, Bank One Ballpark
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2003 Brewers           1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1     2  6  0     3  0
2003 Diamondbacks      0  0  0  0  2  1  0  0  x     3  8  0     7  0
 
Brewers              AB  R  H BI   AVG    Diamondbacks         AB  R  H BI   AVG
Sanchez,A         cf  4  1  2  0  .313    Womack            ss  4  1  2  1  .282
Young,Eri         2b  4  1  3  1  .289    Baerga            2b  4  0  2  1  .529
Sexson            1b  4  0  0  0  .326     Counsell         2b  0  0  0  0  .500
Jenkins           lf  4  0  1  1  .571    Dellucci          rf  4  0  1  0  .308
Hammonds          rf  4  0  0  0  .107    Gonzalez,L        lf  4  0  0  0  .220
Helms             3b  3  0  0  0  .242    Williams,Ma       3b  3  0  0  0  .300
 de los Santos    p   0  0  0  0  .000    Finley            cf  4  1  1  1  .243
Perez,ER          c   3  0  0  0  .304    Overbay           1b  4  0  2  0  .273
Clayton           ss  3  0  0  0  .122    Moeller           c   2  1  0  0  .259
Kinney            p   2  0  0  0  .000    Schilling         p   2  0  0  0  .000
 Ginter,K         3b  1  0  0  0  .263     Mantei           p   0  0  0  0  .000
                     32  2  6  2                               31  3  8  3
 
Brewers                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Kinney           L 1-1           6.2  7  3  3  2  7  98  66  4.97
de los Santos                    1.1  1  0  0  0  1  19  15  0.00
                                 8.0  8  3  3  2  8 117  81
 
Diamondbacks                     INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Schilling        W 3-0           8.2  6  2  2  0 17 117  84  2.28
Mantei           S 4             0.1  0  0  0  0  0   6   3  0.00
                                 9.0  6  2  2  0 17 123  87
 
Mil: Ginter,K inserted at 3b in the 7th
Ari: Counsell inserted at 2b in the 9th
 
2B-Sanchez,A(5), Young,Eri(2). 3B-Jenkins(1). HR-Finley(1). RBI-Young,Eri(6),
Jenkins(4), Womack(5), Baerga(2), Finley(3). SB-Womack(3). CS-Sanchez,A.
K-Sanchez,A, Young,Eri, Sexson 4, Jenkins 3, Hammonds, Helms 2, Perez,ER,
Clayton 2, Kinney 2, Womack, Dellucci 2, Gonzalez,L, Williams,Ma 2, Overbay,
Schilling. BB-Williams,Ma, Moeller. SH-Schilling. PB-Moeller.
GWRBI: Baerga
Temperature: 80, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 10 MPH.
Attendance: 41,747
Game Time: 2:31