On the day he recorded his 3,000th career strikeout with a 3-and-2 splitter to Nick Swisher in the first inning, few other things went Schilling's -- or the Red Sox' -- way, as they lost, 7-2, and have now dropped six straight.
Schilling's wife, Shonda, and their four children, watched the milestone moment from the stands behind home plate. Shonda recorded the event on her camcorder, and the kids all wore Red Sox jerseys. Oldest son Gehrig had a ``3" on his back, and the other children had zeros, together commemorating the total.
After public address announcer Dick Callahan informed the matinee crowd of 31,073 of the feat, Schilling stepped back off the mound and tipped his cap to the crowd.
``Hats off to the Oakland A's for recognizing it," Schilling said. ``I'm humbled by the fact that their fans recognized it and the Sox fans that were here. It's kind of uncomfortable because there's a game going on, so you want to acknowledge people but you don't want to make it bigger than the situation. I was humbled by it. I was very honored that they did that. I thought it was a very classy thing to do."
When Schilling came off the mound at the end of the inning, after stranding Jason Kendall at second following a leadoff double, Francona gave him a hug, and his teammates gave him high-fives and words of encouragement.
There was not much encouragement or acknowledgment from Swisher, however, who someday may rethink his response to being No. 3,000.
``Who cares?" he said. ``We won."
The rest of Schilling's day was as forgettable as Swisher's reaction.
``It's very bittersweet," said Schilling, after allowing 11 hits and six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. ``With the situation we're in right now and what we've been going through, it was a definitely a day when this team needed me to step up, and I didn't."
