MLB

Scores   Schedules   Standings   Statistics   Transactions   Injuries: AL | NL   Players   Weekly Lineup   Message Board   Minor Leagues   MLB Stat Search Clubhouses

Teams Anaheim Arizona Atlanta Baltimore Boston Chicago Sox Chicago Cubs Cincinnati Cleveland Colorado Detroit Florida Houston Kansas City Los Angeles Milwaukee Minnesota Montreal NY Yankees NY Mets Oakland Philadelphia Pittsburgh San Diego San Francisco Seattle St. Louis Tampa Bay Texas Toronto

Sport Sections

	Wednesday, July 26
	Kurkjian: D-Backs bank on Schilling for October ESPN.com
	Editor's note: ESPN's Tim Kurkjian reacts to the Arizona Diamondbacks' acquisition of pitcher Curt Schilling in a five-player deal with the Philadelphia Phillies: Acquiring Curt Schilling may make the Arizona Diamondbacks the team to beat in the National League. Every year teams are looking for No. 1 starters. Now the Diamondbacks have two No. 1 starters -- Schilling and Randy Johnson. It may not be an overstatement to say that Johnson and Schilling, when they are right, are the two most dominant, power-pitching starters -- one a left-hander and one a right-hander -- in the same rotation since Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Johnson has obviously been right all season, and Schilling has been really good lately, winning four of his last six starts. He has his velocity up to 94 mph again and really knows how to pitch. Teams dream about having two studs at the top of the rotation like Johnson and Schilling. The Diamondbacks see the Giants and the Dodgers creeping up on them in the NL West, but Arizona definitely made this trade with October in mind. Buck Showalter has told me many times that the Diamondbacks are playing for the end of October, not just to make the playoffs. The way teams win in the playoffs is with great starting pitching. Unlike the regular season, the playoffs and the World Series have more low-scoring games all decided by good starting pitching, which the Diamondbacks now have, especially at the top of the rotation. They also have a solid bullpen with Byung-Hyun Kim and Matt Mantei, assuming both are throwing well. But the thought of facing Johnson and Schilling in a three-game series is bad news to every team in the NL. I like the trade for the Phillies long term if a few things work out. It's highly possible that Vicente Padilla can turn out to be a great closer. The Phillies need to find out why Travis Lee hasn't hit for the last two years. Pitchers began busting him inside last year, and he still hasn't adjusted to it. There are other questions: Can Nelson Figueroa be a big-time pitcher? And what happened to Omar Daal? He went from a 16-game winner a year ago to a terrible pitcher this year, and no one is sure why. If those questions can be answered in the Phillies' favor, this can turn out to be a good trade for them. Right now, it looks like they gave up Schilling to get four basically unproven players in return. In that respect, it's a difficult trade for the Phillies to swallow, but long term it could be very good for them.		ALSO SEE D-Backs acquire Schilling from Phillies Stark: Win-win situation for D-Backs Rumor Central AUDIO/VIDEO  ESPN's Tim Kurkjian says that with Curt Schilling, the D-Backs are now the team to beat in the NL. RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1  D-Backs GM Joe Garagiola talks with Tim Kurkjian about the Schilling trade. RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1