Julio Lugo later hit a fourth home run off Terry Adams, one that turned the Pesky Pole into a giant tuning fork, and the Devil Rays coasted to an 8-3 win that left no one convinced that the Sox are about to win with the kind of regularity required of teams planning to play in October. The team's 52d sellout of the season, 35,172, watched the Sox fall a game behind Anaheim in the wild-card race in a game in which neither David Ortiz, who was present, and Ramirez, who was sent home by manager Terry Francona, collected a hit.
That's happened just eight times this season. The Sox are 2-6 in those games.
"It was disappointing," Schilling said in a voice only slightly above a whisper. "It was bad. Starting a homestand coming off a road trip the way we did, the starting pitcher has a chance to create or maintain momentum. I wasn't able to do that."
An especially deflating defeat, given that the Sox had come home having won the last two games of a seemingly endless trip in Detroit?
"Not really," said Gabe Kapler, who was the most energized Sox player all night with three hits, including a third-inning home run off lefty John Halama, and some aggressive base-running. "And the reason it is not is because we know that we can win two out of the next three.
"Obviously, it becomes deflating if it becomes a trend, but I don't see it becoming a trend. In my mind, I see us winning two out of our last three."
Sox fans with a more pessimistic bent -- informed estimates place their number at roughly 98.9 percent of the Nation -- might view this entire season as one troubling trend.
Until last night, Schilling has been the exception. He was 7-0 in 11 starts at Fenway and 3-0 with a 1.16 ERA in three starts against the D-Rays, including a complete-game six-hitter just six days earlier in the Florida dome.
