Sheffield, who went to a full count, laced a splitter off the Wall in left-center for a leadoff double, and Rodriguez, waving his bat as effortlessly as a magic wand -- and with similarly mystic power -- obliterated another splitter.
''Tonight was sort of his signature type of thing," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. ''Because he hit a monster home run."
Another 5 to 10 feet of lift, and the home run would have cleared the wall in center field to the right of the flag pole and exited Fenway, a feat last accomplished by Jim Rice in 1975, and only six times since Fenway's inception. The ball's awesome flight path was a mere bonus for Rodriguez, who traded barbs with Schilling in January. The important thing was the two runs sent the Yankees to an 8-6 win in a game the Sox led, 4-0.
''I threw two, as bad splits as I can throw, on back-to-back pitches," said Schilling, who called his splitter ''the one pitch I wasn't worried about in my rehab.
''Sheff hit a split that I left up. He hammered it. I came back and hung a split on the next pitch to A-Rod.
''I certainly felt I was going to have more out there tonight than I did."
Schilling's lack of execution cost him last night, but manager Terry Francona, despite inserting Schilling in the closer role, acknowledged that he wasn't anticipating perfection.
''You can't just get that by flicking the button," Francona said. ''You've got to throw a guy out there to let him compete and get sweaty and get a feel for his pitches. Patience isn't a whole lot of fun, but that's the way to get rewarded with good players."
It was patience -- by the Yankee hitters -- that allowed them to come back at all. The Yankees, winners of eight of nine and now 1 1/2 games behind the Sox in the AL East, trailed by four after the first inning.
The Sox, who have won only five of 14, batted around in the first against Mike Mussina, scoring four runs on only three hits. Johnny Damon led off with a single, extending his hitting streak to 26 games (eight shy of the club record), and scored on a David Ortiz single. Manny Ramirez followed with a walk, then Trot Nixon didn't miss when Mussina left a cutter up and over the plate. Nixon's three-run blast, his 10th, vaulted the Sox to a 4-0 lead.
