Don't let the score fool ya- this one was close

Sox 6, Baltimore 1

WP: Schilling (3-1)
LP: Cabrera (1-2)
HRs: BOS- Cora (1); BAL-Tejada (2)

Alex Cora's 3rd inning blast put him just 723 homers away from Hank Aaron; watch out Barry!

SUMMARY:
After all the offensive fireworks of the past week this one was a good old fashioned 1-1 pitcher's duel through 6 innings.

But when the Sox chased Oriole starter Daniel Cabrera from the game in the 7th, Boston broke the game open with 5 runs in the final 3 innings to turn a nail biter into a rout.

HERO: Schilling 7IP, 5H, 1R, 2BB, 3K, HR
On a night the Sox needed a dominant performance from its starter to stem a 2-game losing streak, it got one from the ace of the staff.

Schill rebounded from a shaky start against New York to shut down the explosive Orioles lineup, allowing just the 1 run while throwing only 90 pitches in seven strong innings of work.

GOAT(s): Oriole's 1st 2 batters
Leadoff man Brian Roberts and super soph Nick Markakis combined to go 0-8 with 2 Ks and 4 LOB; not exactly the way to set the table for the heart of the order.

RECAP:
This game was just what the doctor ordered after that depressing 2-game against the Jays. Boston got a quality start and then some from Curt Schilling, offense from sources both likely (Papi & Manny went 3-7 with 2 runs and 3 RBI) and not (Cora's homer and 3 hits from a slumping Youk) and blew open a close game late to register a much-needed victory.

Don't be fooled by the 5-run win, though- as the old saying goes, the game was much closer than the score indicated. Schill and the electric-but-erratic Daniel Cabrera (6.2IP, 5H, 3ER, 5BB, 5K, WP, HR) were locked in a classic pitcher's duel, both of them allowing just a solo shot-Cora's in the 3rd and Miguel Tejada's in the 6th- for the only scoring in the game thru six innings.

As has been their pattern of late, Boston got men on base early on yet could not drive them home; the Sox left 6 men on in the first six innings, including 2 in the 3rd & 6th, and stranded an exasperating 21 men in the game.

Luckily those missed opportunities didn't come back to haunt them as Boston finally got to Cabrera in the 7th and then feasted on the Baltimore bully, another of the team's fortes of late. Ironically it was Willy Mo Pena, subbing for the still-injured Coco, who got the winning rally started. I say ironically because WMP had been striking out more lately than Anthony Micheal Hall in 16 Candles. But this time he patiently drew a walk, and after Cora sacrificed him over to second, Youk worked an 0-2 count into a walk and Cabrera's night was over.

Jamie Walker came on to face Big Papi, and Ortiz calmly went the opposite way and blooped a double into leftfield, scoring Pena and giving Boston the lead for good, 2-1. Just for shits and giggles Manny added and RBI single off Chad Bradford and after J.D. Drew walked (0-2, 3BBs), Bradford walked Lowell to force in Papi and push the score to 4-1.

The way Schill was pitching you knew that would be enough and it was. The veteran had complete command of all his pitches tonight and was extremely efficient in dispersing them; after averaging 103 pitches in his last three starts he needed just 90 to complete his 8 innings of work.

Emerging cult hero Hideki Okijima came on in the 8th and struck out two of the three batters he faced, including Aubrey Huff looking at a nasty yakker to end the inning. Huff complained to home plate umpire Angel Hernandez, to no avail, and Okijima's breaker is so nasty I've decided to give it a name: I thought The Oki-Doke would be an appropriate moniker.

Boston piled two more runs onto the lead in the 9th when Youk and Ortiz singled and Manny hit a deep blast to left center that centerfielder Corey Patterson tracked down and made a spectacular leaping catch at the wall to rob Manny of extra bases, then Black Donnelly got a 1-2-3 9th to finish it off.

All in all it was a great way to get back on the winning track, and with Josh Beckett going tomorrow night the chances are good that Boston could have a modest 20game winning streak heading into the Bronx.

NOTES:

-After slamming New York pitching for three games, some of the Boston hitters are re-entering the freeze zone:

• Cap'n Tek is in the midst of a horrid 1-7 stretch with 6 Ks, and although he singled and walked tonight, he left 5 men on base and made an error for the 2nd game in a row (catcher's int.)


• Julio Lugo may have had 2 hits last night to halt a 2-23 skid, but with his 0-5 tonight he is now mired in a deep 4-31 slump which has dropped his average from .304 to .247. Ouch.


• Willy Mo did draw a walk and scored the go-ahead run tonight, but he also struck out three more times; the beefy centerfielder is now in a 1-15 skid in the last five games with an astounding 10 of the outs coming on strikeouts

-On the other end of the spectrum, Cora continues to hit the cover off the ball: in the last six games he's played in, he is 7-15 with a 2B, 3B, HR, 3 runs scored and 4 RBI. I smell the beginning of the end of the Pedroia Era, although Dusty has been coming alive of late.

-Coco is still suffering from that oblique strain but is expected to be back in the lineup in the next day or 2

-Cabrera fell to 1-7 vs. the Sox in his young career

-Manny, WMP & Tek combined to leave 13 men on base

-Okijima recorded his 3rd "HOLD" and saw his ERA drop to a minuscule 0.93; he has struck out 12 batters in 9.2 inn ings of work and he hasn't allowed a run since serving up a homerun to Kansas City's John Buck on his first pitch in the major leagues

QUOTES:

-"This was a good win. We lost two in a row, and when you are in a rotation like this something you do not expect to see are losing streaks." - Schill on the recent stretch of poor starts

RECORD: 13-7

AL EAST: UP 2 1/2 on BAL

UP NEXT: Thu @ BAL 7P