Schilling Has 15-K Run to Get Past Maddux

Curt Schilling blew fastballs past Atlanta hitters from start to finish.

Schilling struck out 15 in a five-hitter on Sunday at Atlanta, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-1 victory over Greg Maddux and the Braves.

“One of our coaches told me I was throwing 95 mph,” said Schilling (1-0), who struck out eight of the first 11 batters. “I thought my stuff and location were comparable to the Yankee game last September.”

On Sept. 1, of last season, Schilling set his career high by striking out 16 Yankees.

“Everybody knows we are a pretty good fastball-hitting team,” said Chipper Jones, who homered off Schilling in the first. “Schilling knew that we knew what was coming and he proceeded to ram it past us anyway.”

The Phillies salvaged the third game of the series by scoring an unearned run in the eighth off Maddux (0-1), who gave up only five hits in eight innings.

New York 7, Pittsburgh 0--Masato Yoshii shut down the Pirates in his major league debut, giving up three hits in seven innings and striking out seven to lead the Mets at New York.

Yoshii, a 32-year-old right-hander, was signed by the Mets in January after going 73-51 during 13 seasons in Japan. He retired his first seven batters, showed a good fastball after getting his first strikeout in the fourth inning, walked only one.

Yoshii became the fourth Japanese pitcher currently in the major leagues, joining Hideo Nomo (Dodgers), Hideki Irabu (Yankees) and Shigetoshi Hasegawa (Angels).

After the game, he smiled with his wife and three-year-old son, trying to explain his experience.

“Most Japanese players would like to be major leaguers,” he said through translator Mas Shiraiwa, adding the switch from Japanese baseball to the majors was like “Volkswagen going up to Mercedes.”

San Diego 8, St. Louis 7--Mark McGwire, who homered in his first four games, was kept in the ballpark by Kevin Brown and San Diego’s pitchers, and the Padres rallied for five runs in the ninth at St. Louis.

Ken Caminiti hit a two-run homer and Quilvio Veras drove in the go-ahead run with a single in San Diego’s ninth-inning comeback.

McGwire missed a chance to become the first player to homer in the first five games to start the season, going one for four with two strikeouts and a walk.

Houston 6, Colorado 2--Craig Biggio hit a three-run homer and pitcher Shane Reynolds had a two-run double against former teammate Darryl Kile in the second inning to lead the Astros at Houston.

Kile (1-1) was the Astros’ ace last season, winning 19 games. But he left Houston in the off-season as a free agent, signing a $24-million, three-year contract with the Rockies.

He pitched six innings, giving up five runs in the second inning. Reynolds (1-0) pitched seven innings and gave up nine hits.

Chicago 7, Montreal 2--Former Expo star Henry Rodriguez and Scott Servais hit back-to-back home runs at Chicago and the Cubs won their fifth consecutive game.

Jose Hernandez hit a two-run single and Sammy Sosa and Mark Grace had RBI singles for the Cubs, who improved to 5-1 and equaled their longest winning streak in the last two seasons. Last season, the Cubs lost their first 14 games.

Milwaukee 5, Florida 2--Jeromy Burnitz and Marquis Grissom hit back-to-back homers in the eighth inning off World Series MVP Livan Hernandez at Miami.

During pregame ceremonies, the 17 remaining Marlins from last year’s team received their World Series championship rings. This year’s squad then went out and lost its fifth consecutive game since winning on opening day.

Cliff Floyd hit his fourth homer for the Marlins.