When Olerud, the serious student who has found his way into the Delta (club) House, quips memorable, you know it's a light night at the park. And did the Sox ever need this: a 15-2 exhalation against the Devil Rays after unsettling losses to Oakland and Tampa Bay that allowed the Yankees within a half-game of the AL East lead.
The lead remains just that, with the Yankees winning, 12-9, at home against Baltimore. The Sox, meanwhile, avoided their first three-game losing streak since July 16-18.
''I don't think we had any anxiety," said catcher Jason Varitek, one of four Sox players with four hits, tying an American League record. ''We didn't pitch well those two games, we didn't pitch well at all."
Last night, Curt Schilling did pitch well (7 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 7 K's, 1 BB), finding genuine rhythm and location with his fastball. But he didn't find that until the bottom of the fourth inning, by which time he enjoyed a 10-2 lead. So which came first? The stuff, or a lead significant enough for him to reach back, mind clear, able to make mistakes without repercussions?
''I don't know if it's coincidence or not, because he said about the fourth inning all of a sudden it's like it clicked with his fastball, command," Francona said. ''I betcha having the run support had something to do with that, because he had some room for error."
Schilling wasn't heard from after the game, only seen, walking out a back door to the clubhouse before it opened to the media. His teammates, curiously, were small in number when the room did open. Of the four hitters who became a part of history last night, only Varitek made himself available.
At the conclusion of five innings, the Nos. 3-6 hitters -- Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Trot Nixon, and Varitek -- were 15 for 16 with five home runs and a triple. Nixon singled in the seventh, for his fourth hit, marking just the sixth time in AL history that four teammates recorded four hits in the same game.
