Phillies, Schilling Drop One To Expos

MONTREAL -- Carl Pavano never forgot the first time he met Curt Schilling.

"I went to a camp when I was 12 and he was there and he happened to take me on the side and said `you remind me of me when I was your age,' " Pavano said after making his first major league start Saturday night against Schilling.

"He asked me to bring my family to a game to see him pitch and it ended up that he didn't pitch because he got traded to Baltimore that day. But I ended up talking to him and it's kind of ironic that I got to pitch against him in my first big-league start."

And ironic that when his family -- 12 of whom drove up from Connecticut on Saturday morning -- finally did get to see Schilling pitch, 10 years later, the 22-year-old Pavano wasn't in the stands with them, but on the field matching Schilling pitch for pitch.

Pavano went seven strong innings in his debut and Chris Widger's bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off Schilling lifted the Montreal Expos to a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Pavano, acquired from Boston in the Pedro Martinez deal last year, pitched allowed two runs -- one earned -- and three hits with six strikeouts. The right-hander didn't walk a batter and threw 63 of his 93 pitches for strikes.

"Everyone says the big leagues are the biggest step and I thought I did pretty good out there," Pavano said. "They made some great plays behind me and I was just trying to get them in the dugout as quick as I can so that they could get up there and get their momentum going to score some runs."

Schilling, who struck out 11, got the first out in the ninth before Vladimir Guerrero reached on an error and Brad Fullmer singled.

Schilling hit Rondell White with a pitch, but home plate umpire Bob Davidson ruled that White didn't attempt to get out of the way of the pitch and called a ball on the play. Expos manager Felipe Alou came out to argue and was ejected before White struck out.

"I believe the intelligence of the hitter was questioned there ... that's why I had to be ejected," Alou said. "I don't believe there's one hitter alive that would want to get hit by a fastball from Mr. Schilling."

Schilling (5-5) then walked Ryan McGuire to load the bases and Widger lined his game-winning hit to left.

Ugueth Urbina (3-1) struck out the side in the ninth and got the win.

Schilling, who allowed three runs and five hits, reached double-digit strikeouts for the eighth time this season and the 37th time in his career.

"Results are what matters," Schilling said. "If you get four hits and your team loses, they're meaningless. If you ptch great and your team loses, it doesn't help. It's about results here."

Pavano retired 17 straight when Mike Lieberthal homered on the first pitch of the seventh to tie it 2-2.

Schilling was even sharper. After surrendering a 2-1 lead to Montreal on a second-inning single by Pavano, Schilling set down 20 straight Expos.

"I didn't make the pitches I had to make when the game was on the line and we lost," Schilling said. "There's no feeling of relief or comfort that I threw well. I could have helped us win that game, instead we lost."

Pavano had an RBI single in his first major league at-bat to give the Expos a 2-1 lead.

"I could hit a little bit in high school but I wasn't hitting 95 mph fastballs," Pavano said. "I was just up there battling, just trying to swing the bat."

Pavano needed 28 pitches to get through the first inning, allowing an unearned run and getting out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam.

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