Schilling rocked in rare non-strikeout outing - 美國職棒

ATLANTA - Brian McCann was in a slump. He knew where to turn.

One night after getting some much-needed hitting advice from his dad, the
Atlanta catcher homered and drove in four runs off Curt 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.

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 center-field seats in
the fifth.

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 favor,
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.

The Braves noticed early on that Schilling didn’t have his usual velocity.

“He wasn’t throwing 92, 93 (mph) like he normally does,” McCann said. “He
was throwing a lot more splits and curves and cutters than the scouting
report says.”

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.

Scott Thorman added a two-run homer for the Braves.



原來這一場紀錄挺有趣的..
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