Schilling on the money

Red Sox cash in on chances to beat Rays

April 29, 2004|Globe Staff

He went all but sleepless six nights earlier, consumed by hours of self-loathing. In Curt Schilling's eyes, he had singlehandedly squandered a game the Red Sox should have won by allowing Toronto's Chris Gomez to launch a game-breaking grand slam in a jarring 7-3 loss at SkyDome. He had relived the agony --and microanalyzed the moment -- on the bus from SkyDome to the Toronto airport, on the late-night flight to New York, and in the early-morning solitude of his Manhattan hotel room. The long night turned into a cruel dawn in Gotham.

But Schilling's pillow last night almost certainly felt more comfortable. In a resounding return from his personal purgatory, he thoroughly dominated the Devil Rays for 7 1/3 innings to propel the Sox to a 6-0 victory before 35,120 in the opener of a three-game, two-day homestand at Fenway Park. Schilling scattered five hits, walked none, and struck out eight to help lift the division-leading Sox to their fourth straight victory and orchestrate his redemption.

"All week he looked more than ready to go," manager Terry Francona said. "You could see he was disappointed the way the last game ended and he was going to atone for that tonight."

Schilling, who received all the support he needed when one mighty swing of Jason Varitek's maple bat produced a two-run homer, improved to 3-1 with a 3.31 ERA and made certain he suffered no calamity like he did in Toronto.

"We should have been 6-0 on that road trip," Schilling said. "I am not taking anything away from the Blue Jays, but that game was there for us to win. I don't do that very often, at least I think I don't. Obviously, going into New York and playing the way we played took a lot of the sting out of that. But on a personal level, I went out there tonight and that was still on my mind."

Varitek, Schilling's prized catcher, walloped his two-run shot off Tampa Bay starter Paul Abbott in the fourth inning before he knocked in another run with a bases-loaded single in the seventh. Mark Bellhorn (2 for 2 with a pair of walks) followed Varitek in the seventh with a two-run single, and Bill Mueller completed the scoring by doubling home Johnny Damon in the eighth.

After batting only .234 on their 5-1 road swing through Toronto and the Bronx, the Sox collected 12 hits, including five for extra bases, against Abbott and two relievers.

"Having a guy like Curt Schilling out there," Damon said, "makes everything seem a lot easier."