Schmidt stops LA#039;s streak
Published 12:00 am Friday, June 20, 2003
The only way to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers these days is with a dominant pitching performance.
Jason Schmidt provided just that for the San Francisco Giants.
Schmidt threw a three-hitter for his major league-leading third shutout as San Francisco stopped the Dodgers' eight-game winning streak with a 2-0 victory Thursday night.
BenitoSantiago and Andres Galarraga homered off Odalis Perez (4-5). The Giants ended a three-game losing streak and moved back into sole possession of first place in the NL West - one game ahead of Los Angeles.
Coming off a 6-1 loss at Kansas City in his last start, Schmidt (6-3) struck out 11, walked two and retired his final 10 batters.
''I was a little overexcited - last night it really kicked in,'' he said. ''I was excited all week. It's been a while since I've been like that.''
Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca went 0-for-3 with a walk to snap his 25-game hitting streak - longest by a Los Angeles player since Steve Sax had a 25-game run in 1986.
Lo Duca is 1-for-16 lifetime against Schmidt.
''From the first at-bat, I knew he was going to be tough,'' Lo Duca said. ''He was throwing BBs.''
The longest hitting streak in baseball this season is 26 games by Boston's Nomar Garciaparra and Pittsburgh's Kenny Lofton.
Barry Bonds went hitless in four at-bats, ending his streak of reaching base safely at 39 games.
Phillies 3, Braves 2
At Philadelphia, Mike Hampton held the Phillies hitless into the eighth inning before they rallied to beat John Smoltz on Jimmy Rollins' RBI single in the ninth.
Marlon Byrd looped a single to right field to end Hampton's no-hit bid after 7 1-3 innings. Placido Polanco's two-run single off Smoltz tied it.
Smoltz (0-1) blew just his second save in 28 opportunities.
Phillies manager Larry Bowa was ejected in the ninth for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Terry Craft. The fiery Bowa stormed out of the dugout, threw his hat down several times, kept pointing at a corner of the plate and kicked dirt all over it.
Gary Sheffield homered twice for Atlanta.
Cardinals 8, Brewers 4
At Milwaukee, Albert Pujols hit his 20th homer and Bo Hart doubled and tripled in his major league debut for St. Louis.
Jason Isringhausen got one out for his first save. The Cardinals' closer was activated June 10 after missing 61 games while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.