Wakefield had been penciled in to start opposite Mike Mussina Sunday in the season finale but will instead come back on three days' rest to face the Yankees Saturday. Schilling, previously in line to face Randy Johnson in the season's penultimate game, is now scheduled to go Sunday, in Game No. 162, possibly with the division at stake.
''It would [be] very interesting and very good for Curt to go ahead and do that," said Mike Myers, who, along with Chad Harville and Jonathan Papelbon were the only Red Sox players in the clubhouse when it opened to the media following the postponement. ''When the moment is high, he steps up to the occasion.
''And on Wakefield's side of it, it would have been good to see Wakefield out there because of what he went through in 2003, how he's thrown against the Yankees in the past, and what he did last year, coming in and throwing three innings in Game 5 [of the ALCS] to pick up the win.
''For Curt to go ahead and have that opportunity, it's not a bad guy to have out there. I'll take that any time."
Schilling and Johnson, again, will miss each other. The co-MVPs of the 2001 World Series, despite 901 combined career starts, have never started opposite each other.
The probable matchups this weekend: David Wells vs. Chien-Ming Wang Friday, Wakefield vs. Johnson Saturday, Schilling vs. Mussina Sunday.
''We set it up a long time ago in what we thought was our best order," Francona said. ''So you stay with that. Then when it rains, we make adjustments."
The more pressing issue, though, is today, and how playing six hours of baseball, possibly more, will affect a team, especially a team coping with fatigue and injuries.
''It is hard to win a doubleheader," Francona said. ''Because of the importance of these games, we're probably going to have a lot of guys who play 18 innings, maybe 20 innings, maybe 22, who knows? Whatever we're asked to do, we'll always try to make it to our advantage."
