Hang time

''If they were sitting up watching the game," Timlin said, ''they know better."

The reason? Timlin's inning, which was not a save situation, went like this: fly out, single, fly out, walk, popup to the pitcher. However, the inning didn't end there because Timlin couldn't snag the John Buck popup that went all of 30 feet.

''As a pitcher," Timlin said, ''that's one of the hardest things to do, to react to a full swing and have a changeup come at you."

Timlin took a step back, then charged and dived, getting a glove on the ball but not squeezing it.

''I went 6 or 7 inches into the ground," he said. ''I had to replace my divot. Seriously."

The next hitter, Donnie Murphy, deposited a two-run single over first baseman John Olerud before Timlin induced former PawSox outfielder Chip Ambres to ground out to end the game. And so it ended 5-2, the first game of this in-between time, as the Sox move Curt Schilling into the rotation and Keith Foulke continues to progress toward a return.

The Sox, after a 1-3 beginning to this season-long 10-game trip, improved to 4-4. When it was noted to Terry Francona that the Kansas City ninth got a little exciting, the manager said, ''Yeah, I was a little -- I don't want to say disappointed . . ."

He wasn't there to criticize Timlin. The disappointment?

''Timlin's athleticism," Francona said, joking. ''That was a point of interest coming off the field. Mike felt he made pretty good pitch. They got a base hit to right that wasn't smoked. There isn't a point in the game where we sit there very relaxed."

The next week figures to provide interesting late-inning watching. The Sox pitching staff is down to 11 -- Trot Nixon was activated yesterday, Lenny DiNardo optioned to Pawtucket -- and David Wells will have his appeal heard here this afternoon. His six-game suspension, if upheld or reduced only slightly, could leave the team shorthanded.

Last night Wells proved his value to the team, yet again. On a staff with so much uncertainty, Wells continues to demonstrate that he knows how to pitch, even when he doesn't want to.

''There are days you don't want to go out there," he said. ''I didn't want to go out there."

The reason, for the third straight start, was his health. Today, by his count, will be Wells's 11th and final day on antibiotics. He's keeping food down, but his right ear feels clogged still.