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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
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| Schilling |
CINCINNATI (AP) -- For six innings in his major league debut,
Brian Reith puzzled the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the seventh, he
got crushed by them.
Reith lost a no-hit bid in the sixth inning, and Luis Gonzalez
and Matt Williams homered on consecutive pitches as the
Diamondbacks beat the downtrodden Cincinnati Reds 2-1 Wednesday
night.
Curt Schilling (6-1) struck out 10 in seven innings, and the
Diamondbacks turned to their only offensive weapon -- the homer -- to
finally get the best of a rookie fresh out of Double-A.
"It was difficult facing a guy from Double-A that we'd never
seen before," said Gonzalez, who led off the seventh with his 18th
homer, most in the majors. "He was effective. We were hoping his
pitch count would get up there and we would get to him."
Reith (0-1), who came to the Reds from the Yankees as part of
the Denny Neagle trade last July, was a mystery to the
Diamondbacks, who had little idea what to expect.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander with a high finishing leg kick held
Arizona hitless until Steve Finley singled up the middle with two
outs in the sixth, ending a no-hit bid that was as stunning as his
call-up.
"It usually doesn't happen that way -- Double-A to the big
leagues," Reith said. "I was very surprised. I haven't slept in
two nights."
In the seventh, the Diamondbacks zeroed in on the 23-year-old
pitcher with only eight games at Double-A to his credit.
Gonzalez worked him to a full count, then guessed correctly from
his limited knowledge of the pitcher's tendencies that a fastball
was coming. Gonzalez hit it over the right-field wall, giving him a
homer in every ballpark he has played in this season.
Williams lined the next pitch, a hanging slider, well over the
14-foot wall in right-center for a 2-1 lead.
Reith left after giving up a pair of line-drive singles, getting
a round of applause from the 21,843 fans who had booed him two
innings earlier when he struck out while trying to bunt.
"Obviously, he had an advantage because we didn't know much
about him," Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said. "We didn't know
much about him on his second and third time through the lineup,
either. He was very impressive."
So was Schilling, who made a strong recovery from his only loss
of the season -- a 5-1 defeat against his former Philadelphia
teammates. Schilling allowed only one misplay-aided run and four
hits in seven innings.
He hadn't pitched in Cincinnati since 1997, when another Reds
pitcher -- Brett Tomko -- made a surprising jump to the majors.
Schilling also won that game 2-1.
"I knew that if he (Reith) threw strikes, he was going to be
tough. It would take a couple of innings for our hitters to get the
feel for him," Schilling said. "We never did get a feel for him.
He just made two mistakes."
The Reds usually make enough mistakes to lose on their home
field. They've lost 10 of their last 11 at Cinergy Field, where
they have the NL's worst home mark at 6-15.
At 17-22, they're five games under .500 for the first time in
two years.
They also lost another infielder to injury. Gold Glove second
baseman Pokey Reese left the game in the fifth inning to get five
stitches for a cut on the index finger of his throwing hand,
injured when he dove back into first base on a pickoff throw.
A day earlier, third baseman Aaron Boone had surgery on a broken
bone in his hand that will sideline him for 3-to-4 weeks.
Cincinnati's only run came on Sean Casey's double in the sixth
inning, a line drive that Finley misjudged in center field. Troy
Brohawn pitched the eighth, and Byung-Hyun Kim got the last three
outs for his second save in two games.
Schilling didn't get to face old nemesis Deion Sanders, who was
out of the starting lineup for a fifth consecutive game since his
misplay in the outfield led to a loss. During the 1997 season,
Schilling had tart exchanges with Sanders during two games.
Teammates had to come between them on one occasion after
Schilling -- unhappy with Sanders' showmanship -- threw one inside as
the two-sport star tried to bunt. Schilling later said he didn't
think Sanders would charge the mound because the NFL cornerback
"doesn't like to hit people."
Sanders struck out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth, dropping his
average to .206.
Game notes
The Diamondbacks have nine homers in their last four games,
accounting for 14 of their 19 runs. ... Gonzalez has an 11-game
hitting streak. ... At 21-18, the Diamondbacks are three games over
.500 for the first time this season. ... The Reds have scored in
202 consecutive games, the third-longest streak in major league
history.
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