BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS : Schilling Hopes His Effect Is Chilling
Does Curt Schilling, the Philadelphia Phillie right-hander who faces the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the NL playoffs today, expect to generate the type of adrenaline that contributed to his five consecutive strikeouts at the start of Game 1 and the 10 overall?
“That adrenaline built up overnight,” Schilling said. “I had studied and prepared as well as I could, and those 60,000 people in the stands contributed to it.
“But I don’t think there will be a loss of adrenaline (today). The bottom line is I could be pitching for our season whether it’s 2-2 (in games) or 3-1. That’s enough adrenaline for me.”
Asked if Atlanta’s 23-run pounding in Games 2 and 3 had left a mental scar on the Phillies pitching staff, Schilling said:
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with our performance. We’ve struggled the last two games, but if you bring that mentality into the clubhouse you’re beaten before you go out there.”
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Do the Atlanta pitchers talk about how fortunate they are to have a lineup of explosive hitters behind them?
“No, but the hitters tell us how fortunate we are,” said a laughing Steve Avery, who starts for the Braves today. “The second half has been kind of unbelievable. You can’t give enough credit to the hitters and defense.”
Avery has acquired two years of experience since making his postseason debut at 21, but he said, “I tend to be more nervous now because I know what’s on the line. Two years ago I didn’t know any better.”
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As CBS continues to adjust postseason starting times to satisfy sponsors and programming (Sunday night’s start was delayed 10 minutes until 5:39 p.m. PDT although the teams play at 12:07 today), John Schuerholz, Atlanta general manager, said: “We all have been around long enough to know there’s nothing odd about the scheduling of major sports events. The naivete is gone.”
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Philadelphia leadoff hitter Lenny Dykstra went into Game 4 with three hits in 13 at-bats and an on-base percentage of .333 compared to .420 during the season.
“They’re not pitching me any differently,” he said. “It’s just that they’re getting ahead with everything. I’ve been 0-1 and 0-2 the whole series. I think the whole team has been out of sync.”
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