But he faced a team with nothing better than a .285 hitter and continued to get hit, especially by righthanded batters. He's been hit at a .383 clip this year by righties, compared with .257 by lefties. Yesterday, righthanded hitters went 5 for 13 against Schilling with three doubles, a triple, a homer (Paul Konerko, on a curveball to lead off the sixth), two walks, and three RBIs.
That should make Saturday afternoon a must-see, as Schilling faces Jeter, Rodriguez, Sheffield & Co. in the Bronx. Asked yesterday if he's looking forward to that, Schilling said, ''I just want to pitch a good game."
Yesterday, he did, intermittently. Though his fastball peaked at 95 m.p.h., he cited fastball command as the reason he gave the appearance of laboring. No at-bat better encapsulated that than catcher Chris Widger's in the fourth inning.
Widger played in Camden (N.J., not Yards) last season in the Independent League and played yesterday because A.J. Pierzynski remained home with his wife, who was scheduled to have induced labor. Widger, who apparently had his catcher's gear on when his turn at bat came, took forever to get out of the dugout to hit.
Agitated home plate umpire Larry Young stood with hands on hips waiting and staring at the visiting dugout until a harried Widger emerged. He put on his batting gloves just as he stepped into the box and quickly fell behind 0-and-2. Yet he battled Schilling to an 11-pitch at-bat before flying out.
''When I'm spotting my fastball, I usually don't have those kind of at-bats unless it's a real, real good hitter," Schilling said. ''When you're not commanding your fastball and you're a fastball pitcher, it's going to be a lot harder to get outs."
And so, three starts into Schilling's return to the rotation, he's 0-2 with a 7.79 ERA. Against Kansas City, Tampa Bay, and Chicago, he has allowed 27 hits and 15 runs in 17 1/3 innings. He has begun 18 innings, and has retired the side in order only three times.
