He was sitting and waiting as the media walked into the Fenway Park interview room minutes after a 12-2 Red Sox' loss to the Rockies last night, his hands folded, his blue button-down shirt crisp, and his manner all but screaming his desire to get this done, fast.
Curt Schilling was not in the mood for reflecting last night. He was in the mood for answering questions, quickly, and heading home. For his start was a far cry from the one that was one out away from being a no-hitter last Thursday.
Betrayed by his defense twice in the first two innings -- Julio Lugo and Mike Lowell were the culprits -- and assured there would be no repeat of last week by the time the first batter of the game reached first base (and then second base and then home), Schilling allowed that the game "started off weird, got it under control, and then just kind of let it get away."
In a series of frustrating ways. With all the runs allowed by Schilling -- six total, five earned -- coming with two outs, that one-out-away sensation permeated the start.
Having allowed singles to the first two batters of the fifth inning, Schilling seemed on his way to getting out of it with Brad Hawpe coming to the plate. But all it took was a single pitch, a changeup, which Hawpe deposited into the right-field stands for a 6-2 lead.
"We played a sloppy first two innings, all the way around, but we settled in," Schilling said. "It was a very winnable game until Hawpe's at-bat in the fifth."
Or, as Jason Varitek put it, "We made one mistake, and it's a three-run homer. Outside of that, he would have left us in the game, completely, with a chance to come back."
Before that home run, it was 3-2, and the 36,808 in attendance still likely felt confident that it would be Rockies starter Josh Fogg (1-5, 5.06 ERA coming in) and not Schilling who would fall apart. But it wasn't only the three-run shot that put the game out of reach. The three runs in the first and second innings contributed, both times aided by an error.
First there was the ball thrown away by Lugo on Willy Taveras's single to open the game. Then there was the suddenly shaky Lowell's 12th error of the season (his career high is 14). A single by Kaz Matsui brought home the second run, and Lowell's errant throw allowed Troy Tulowitzki to score the third.
Frustrating? Of course.
"Because you're one pitch away," Schilling said. "I mean, you're one pitch away every at-bat, every hitter. You're one pitch away. Not being able to make that, it means just a dramatic difference because a lot of times you make those pitches."
