Hurricane Floyd
06-08-2002, 06:21 PM
BOSTON (AP) -- Baseball's winningest pitcher had his way with baseball's winningest team.
Curt Schilling and the Arizona Diamondbacks handed Pedro Martinez his first loss, beating the Boston Red Sox 3-2 Saturday to remain perfect at Fenway Park.
``Both guys really battled,'' Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said. ``I'd venture to guess that neither one of them felt that he had his best stuff. But that just shows you the caliber of pitchers they are.''
Schilling (12-1) allowed six hits and two walks over 7 1-3 innings, striking out nine to improve his major league-leading victory total.
The Red Sox lost their fourth consecutive home game and are only 15-13 at Fenway -- no match for their 25-6 road record but still better than the 0-2 mark with a 7.50 ERA that Schilling had posted in his previous five games at Fenway with the Orioles and Phillies.
``I've never pitched well here. They've always had a good lineup,'' Schilling said. ``I had good stuff. Good enough. But I don't feel like I was ever in a groove today.''
Byung-Hyun Kim got the final four outs to earn his 16th save, striking out Lou Merloni with a runner on third to end it.
Kim has saved both games in Arizona's first-ever visit to Fenway Park, where Schilling took the loss when he faced Martinez in the 1999 All-Star game.
Martinez (7-1) struck out the first four batters in that game and was picked as MVP, but he overextended himself in the effort and went on the disabled list before returning to win his first of two AL Cy Young Awards.
Saturday's performance wasn't nearly so dominant, raising questions again about the health of the one-time stopper who didn't win a game after May last year because of a frayed rotator cuff.
Martinez retired nine in a row at one point -- five of them on strikeouts -- but he struggled at other times and needed 115 pitches to get through six innings. His previous high this season was 116 pitches, but that took him through eight innings on May 12 at Seattle.
In all, he gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks and struck out 10 as Boston fell to 40-19 -- still the best record in baseball.
``The biggest adjustment I have to make is realizing I'll have to deal with this the rest of my career, or at least the end of the year. I don't even know if I'm going to get through the end of the year,'' Martinez said. ``I'm learning how to pace myself. ... This is all new to me.''
Schilling allowed a first-inning homer to Carlos Baerga and a smattering of singles before running into trouble in the eighth.
Merloni led off with a single off third baseman Craig Counsell's glove, then Schilling, who hadn't walked anyone in 165 batters and 44 innings, walked Johnny Damon. After Baerga's sacrifice bunt, Nomar Garciaparra walked and Mike Myers relieved.
Shortstop Tony Womack mishandled Tony Clark's grounder before grabbing the ball to make the throw to second. Garciaparra appeared to beat the throw in a very close play, but he was ruled out by umpire Brian O'Nora. Merloni scored on the play to make it 3-2.
Jose Guillen answered Baerga's homer in the second to make it 1-0, then Junior Spivey hit an RBI double in the third to give the Diamondbacks the lead. Arizona made it 3-1 in the sixth when Erubiel Durazo walked and scored onDamian Miller's single.
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Curt Schilling and the Arizona Diamondbacks handed Pedro Martinez his first loss, beating the Boston Red Sox 3-2 Saturday to remain perfect at Fenway Park.
``Both guys really battled,'' Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said. ``I'd venture to guess that neither one of them felt that he had his best stuff. But that just shows you the caliber of pitchers they are.''
Schilling (12-1) allowed six hits and two walks over 7 1-3 innings, striking out nine to improve his major league-leading victory total.
The Red Sox lost their fourth consecutive home game and are only 15-13 at Fenway -- no match for their 25-6 road record but still better than the 0-2 mark with a 7.50 ERA that Schilling had posted in his previous five games at Fenway with the Orioles and Phillies.
``I've never pitched well here. They've always had a good lineup,'' Schilling said. ``I had good stuff. Good enough. But I don't feel like I was ever in a groove today.''
Byung-Hyun Kim got the final four outs to earn his 16th save, striking out Lou Merloni with a runner on third to end it.
Kim has saved both games in Arizona's first-ever visit to Fenway Park, where Schilling took the loss when he faced Martinez in the 1999 All-Star game.
Martinez (7-1) struck out the first four batters in that game and was picked as MVP, but he overextended himself in the effort and went on the disabled list before returning to win his first of two AL Cy Young Awards.
Saturday's performance wasn't nearly so dominant, raising questions again about the health of the one-time stopper who didn't win a game after May last year because of a frayed rotator cuff.
Martinez retired nine in a row at one point -- five of them on strikeouts -- but he struggled at other times and needed 115 pitches to get through six innings. His previous high this season was 116 pitches, but that took him through eight innings on May 12 at Seattle.
In all, he gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks and struck out 10 as Boston fell to 40-19 -- still the best record in baseball.
``The biggest adjustment I have to make is realizing I'll have to deal with this the rest of my career, or at least the end of the year. I don't even know if I'm going to get through the end of the year,'' Martinez said. ``I'm learning how to pace myself. ... This is all new to me.''
Schilling allowed a first-inning homer to Carlos Baerga and a smattering of singles before running into trouble in the eighth.
Merloni led off with a single off third baseman Craig Counsell's glove, then Schilling, who hadn't walked anyone in 165 batters and 44 innings, walked Johnny Damon. After Baerga's sacrifice bunt, Nomar Garciaparra walked and Mike Myers relieved.
Shortstop Tony Womack mishandled Tony Clark's grounder before grabbing the ball to make the throw to second. Garciaparra appeared to beat the throw in a very close play, but he was ruled out by umpire Brian O'Nora. Merloni scored on the play to make it 3-2.
Jose Guillen answered Baerga's homer in the second to make it 1-0, then Junior Spivey hit an RBI double in the third to give the Diamondbacks the lead. Arizona made it 3-1 in the sixth when Erubiel Durazo walked and scored onDamian Miller's single.
Source: Yahoo SPorts!