No one does self-analysis better than Schilling, who was unsparing in deconstructing his performance, one in which he frittered away a 4-0 lead by giving up five runs on nine hits, including three home runs, before the Sox rallied to regain the lead on two-out RBI singles by Mark Loretta and David Ortiz in the sixth.
''Seven two-strike hits," he said. ''Four 0-and-2 hits. I'm still overthrowing the ball in situations I can't. Thirty-six pitches with two strikes, and I got two swings and misses. I don't have that 96, 97 [m.p.h. fastball] anymore when I need it with two strikes. But I'm not translating it on the field."
It sure seemed as if he had it when he ran off four wins to start the season, allowing just five earned runs on 17 hits (2 home runs) in 28 innings. That translates to a 1.61 ERA, and he held opposing hitters to a .172 batting average,
In his last five starts, Schilling is 2-2 with a 6.53 ERA. In 30 1/3 innings, he has allowed 22 earned runs on 40 hits. Opponents are batting .315 against him. They've also hit eight home runs, three apiece in the last two games. Ramon Hernandez, Jay Gibbons, and Brandon Fahey took him deep last night, Fahey for his first big-league home run.
The drop in effectiveness follows a 133-pitch outing in Jacobs Field on a cold night in Cleveland, which raised all kinds of alarms at the time and continues to do so. Just as they did then, both Schilling and manager Terry Francona dispute that it has had any deleterious effects on the 39-year-old righthander.
''To me, that's a long time ago," Francona said. ''People look at everything. I try to, too. That's my job. I don't think that's why he's giving up home runs.
''Physically, I think he looks tremendous. I think the velocity is the same. I think he's running through a period where he's made some mistakes. They haven't been fouled back, they've left the ballpark."
Schilling was even more adamant in asserting that connecting the dots to Cleveland was for amateurs.
''I can talk until I'm blue in the face, until everybody's blue in face, when I tell you guys that's not it," Schilling said. ''It makes good copy. That's really putting the blame and making excuses where they don't belong.
