Baseball Roundup: Monday's Action on the Diamonds

Jun 19, 03:05 AM

Current Headlines: (CP) - Curt Schilling has gone from near no-hitter to no strikeout disaster.

Atlanta catcher Brian McCann homered and drove in four runs off Schilling to lead the Braves past the Boston Red Sox 9-4 on Monday. Schilling never got up to speed, enduring his first strikeout-free start since 1993 and his second straight poor outing since nearly pitching a no-hitter at Oakland.

Schilling (6-4) was rocked for 10 hits and six runs in 4 1-3 innings, his second-shortest outing of the season. More telling, the 40-year-old right-hander failed to strike out anyone - the first time that's happened in one of his starts since July 1, 1993.

"It's embarrassing," Schilling said. "I never gave us a chance. You want to walk around the room and apologize to everybody. Your manager, your teammates, fans. There's no excuse for a game like that."

Schilling scraped along through the first four innings, but he couldn't escape the fifth. With one out, Edgar Renteria and Chipper Jones hit consecutive singles to bring up McCann. He worked the count in his favour, then drove a 2-1 pitch to the right of the 400-foot sign.

Coco Crisp made a valiant effort, leaping up to grab the top of the wall, but the ball landed in the first row of the bleachers. Schilling stood near the mound, looking toward the spot in disbelief.

Elsewhere in interleague play it was: New York Mets 8 Minnesota 1, Cleveland 10 Philadelphia 1, Detroit 9 Washington 8, Kansas City 5 St. Louis 3, Chicago White Sox 10 Florida 6, Tampa Bay 10 Arizona 2, Oakland 6 Cincinnati 1 and Los Angeles Angels 10 Houston 9. In the National League, Milwaukee beat San Francisco 5-4.

At Atlanta, the Braves noticed early on that Schilling didn't have his usual velocity.

"He wasn't throwing 92, 93 (m.p.h) like he normally does," McCann said. "He was throwing a lot more splits and curves and cutters than the scouting report says."

McCann was coming off a 3-for-22 road trip when the Braves returned home Sunday night. He called his father, who runs a batting complex in suburban Atlanta, and went by to get some after-hours pointers.

"Things were snowballing," said McCann, who had been 26-for-116 (.224) since injuring his left ring finger. "I needed to go back to where it all started."

His father had noticed a tiny flaw in McCann's swing. They watched film and talked about what he needed to do to fix it. It didn't take long for the young catcher to put the advice to good use.

"It was the first time in a long time that it was just me and him," McCann said. "I needed it."

McCann doubled in a run in the fourth, putting the Braves ahead to stay, then finished off Schilling with a three-run homer into the centre-field seats in the fifth.

Scott Thorman of Cambrige, Ont., added a two-run homer for the Braves.

Crisp homered twice for the Red Sox, and J.D. Drew went deep for Boston.

But McCann's homer put Atlanta ahead up 6-1 on the Red Sox, who sat one of their biggest offensive stars. With no designated hitter in the NL park, David Ortiz was limited to a pinch-hitting role.

Crisp had the first multihomer game of his career, the second of which ended the night for Atlanta starter Chuck James (6-6). But the left-hander lasted long enough for the win, giving up five hits and two runs in 5 1-3 innings.

James snapped a two-game skid and won for the first time in four starts.

"That was huge, especially after my last outing," said James, who gave up six runs in 4 1-3 innings at Minnesota. "I needed to use more of my legs, more of my back. It worked out well."

Schilling has endured a lingering hangover from his near no-hitter against the Athletics on June 7, which was broken up with two outs in the ninth. In his last two starts, he's given up 19 hits and 11 earned runs in 9 1-3 innings.

The six runs allowed to the Braves were a season high for Schilling, while the stint of 4 1-3 innings was his shortest since opening day. In that one, he lasted only four innings at Kansas City for his briefest start since 2001.

"I'm not pitching well," Schilling said. "That's what chisels away your confidence: when you (stink). That's what is happening. With this team, I can go out and not throw well and still win games. But I didn't even give us a chance."

It was his first loss to the Braves since 2001. He went 4-0 with a 2.32 ERA in his previous seven starts against Atlanta.

James helped himself at the plate with a two-out, run-scoring single in the fourth - silencing thousands of Red Sox fans in the sellout crowd of 47,562.

Mets 8 Twins 1

At New York, John Maine took a three-hit shutout into the eighth inning to earn his second win in eight starts, pitching the Mets to victory over Minnesota.

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Indians 10 Phillies 1

At Cleveland, Cliff Lee beat another NL team, and Kelly Shoppach hit a three-run homer off Cole Hamels to lead the Indians to a rout of Philadelphia.

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Tigers 9 Nationals 8

At Washington, Carlos Guillen and Marcus Thames homered, Detroit scored six times in the fifth and held on to beat the Nationals.

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Royals 5 Cardinals 3

At St. Louis, Odalis Perez won for the second time in 10 starts and Kansas City took advantage of mistakes by Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright.

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White Sox 10 Marlins 6

At Chicago, Jim Thome added to his career interleague home run lead with a three-run shot, and the struggling White Sox matched their season high for runs in a victory over Florida.

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Devil Rays 10 Diamondbacks 2

At Phoenix, Brendan Harris fell a double shy of the cycle and Jason Hammel earned his first career win as Tampa Bay defeated Arizona, giving the Devil Rays a 7-0 record against their 1998 expansion partners.

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Athletics 6 Reds 1

At Oakland, Calif., Joe Blanton struck out five and didn't walk a batter to win for the third time in four starts and Mark Ellis' three-run homer highlighted the Athletics' victory over Cincinnati.

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Angels 10 Astros 9

At Anaheim, Calif., Chone Figgins had six hits, including a game-winning RBI triple in the ninth inning that gave Los Angeles a victory over Houston.

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Brewers 5 Giants 4

At Milwaukee, Prince Fielder hit his NL-leading 26th home run, Yovani Gallardo dazzled in his major league debut and the Brewers held off struggling San Francisco.