Schilling in fine form for Sox in opener

"I felt a little stronger than I thought I would, which was nice," said Schilling. "But this was not even close to stretching it out. I would have liked to have kept going, but we have a lot of guys here who need innings."

"He tried to establish his fastball," said manager Terry Francona. "It looked to me like his first outing. I know he probably wanted to throw more pitches, but I just don't think it's worth it."

It was the Opening Night of the exhibition season -- Boston's 15th spring training here -- and the first game of the annual Mayor's Cup competition with the Twins, who also train in Fort Myers. The Twins have won the coveted cup each of the last two springs and keep it displayed in a prominent spot in their Hammond Stadium clubhouse.

The Twins, who beat the Red Sox five times in six outings last spring, brought the Mayor's Cup with them on their bus last night. The 10-inning, 4-4 tie gives the Twins a leg up on this year's competition. They need to win only two of the remaining four contests with the Sox to retain the Cup.

"We might have to saw that thing in half," said Francona. "It's eluded us."

It was 73 degrees at game time and the newly expanded stands were packed at City of Palms Park.

Taking the mound, Schilling warmed up, turned toward center field for his traditional pregame prayer, then wheeled around to face Twins second baseman Luis Castillo. The Minnesota infielder was way behind several Schilling serves before grounding to short.

"I was nervous and short of breath," said Schilling. "That's the way it is whether I'm facing Northwestern or the Yankees. It's competing."

Minnesota right fielder Jason Tyner was next and popped up the first pitch (gloved in foul territory by Jason Varitek). Joe Mauer, who finished sixth in American League MVP voting in 2006, ended the inning by grounding an 0-and-2 split-fingered fastball to first baseman Kevin Youkilis. Schilling got over to cover first base. He threw only nine pitches in the first inning, eight for strikes. The final pitch to Mauer was his only non-fastball of the evening.