He would later thank relievers Keith Foulke and Jonathan Papelbon for clinching his milestone win.
Schilling was called back by the large crowd after Papelbon had secured the final out to chants of ``We want Curt! We want Curt!" Schilling obliged with an appearance and wave of his cap moments later.
``They told me it was quite loud outside," Schilling said. ``I got a chance to go out and then I saw [wife] Shonda and the kids with signs, which was very cool. Today was my son's 11th birthday and the only thing he asked me for was my 200th win, which was probably more pressure than anything I could think of."
Of course, preserving milestones can also make for pressure. Players through the years have commented on how difficult it is to save the day for a pitcher ready to hit a big career number.
Papelbon had no such worries, however.
``I didn't even think about it," said Papelbon, who notched his 18th straight save to start the season. ``I'm glad to have been a part of it. But you can't let that enter your thinking. There's enough pressure on you without putting that on your shoulders. I'm glad I was able to do it for our team and happy that Curt got his win. That's quite an accomplishment."
There were some gritty moments, for sure.
In the fifth inning, for instance, after Schilling had allowed two runs and a runner was on third with one out, he got the dangerous Carl Crawford to pop out weakly to short left to third baseman Mike Lowell, and then challenged Toby Hall with a 94-mile-per-hour fastball up and in that Hall couldn't catch up to for strike three.
``I thought that was the critical moment," said Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon. ``At that point it could have gone a little bit in our favor. Once he got out of that, he started gaining momentum and pitching better."
Schilling joined Chuck Finley and George Uhle in a tie for 102d place on the all-time wins list.
But last night Schilling was just trying to keep his head above water, fighting to keep the lead his offense had accrued against Devil Rays starter Seth McClung.
