That's what I'm talking about: Schill 1-hits A's

Sox 1, Oakland 0
WP: Schilling (6-2)

LP: Blanton (5-4)

HRs: Papi (11)

Damn you Shannon Stewart, damn you!

SUMMARY:
The ace went a step better than shutting the A's out-he was one out and one pitch away from tossing the first no-hitter of his career before Shannon Stewart singled with two outs in the 9th.

A first-inning homer by David Ortiz was the only offense of the game, and the only run needed for Schill to help the Sox halt a four game slide.


HERO: Schilling (duh!) 9IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 4Ks
This is why the guy is money-when the chips are down and there is a game that his team absolutely needs to win, Schill buckles down and takes his game up a notch like only the best pitchers in the history of the game can do.

GOAT: Shannon Stewart 1-4, 1B
I always liked him when he was with the Jays; suddenly, I despise him.

RECAP:
The day started out well for Boston, and it ended even better.

In the first inning word came down from the luxury box housing bench coach Brad Mills' son Beau that the younger Mills had been selected with the 13th pick in the MLB draft by the Cleveland Indians.

Moments later, David Ortiz drove the 7th pitch from A's starter Joe Blanton deep into the stands in right center for a monumental home run, and I'm not just referring to the distance the moon shot travelled.

Because as it turned out, Papi's 11th homer of the season and second in four days was the only run either team would score in what turned out to be the best, most intense and well-pitched game for the Sox so far this season.

Everyone & their brother knew Schill had to and would want to come up big today as the Sox had dropped six of the last seven games overall and seven straight at McAfee Coliseum.

Ironically, the site was the location of another historic moment for Schilling, as he achieved his 3000th career strikeout at the venue last season when he fanned Nick Swisher.

But despite the obvious need to have a quality outing and the Sox desperate desire to get a win any way possible, nobody could have predicted the way this one would unfold, especially with Schilling pitching so erratically over his last four-five starts.

After the home run both pitchers settled into a nice groove; Blanton retired 15 of the next 17 Sox hitters before J.D. Drew led off the seventh with a single, while Schilling was setting the A's down in a variety of ways through the first four innings, including three line outs, three ground outs, three strikeouts and three fly outs.

Talk about distribution.

In the fifth inning Schill lost his bid for a perfect game when Julio Lugo bobbled a routine ground ball by Dan Johnson, so it was time to concentrate on the no-no. Which Curt did.

We all know the prerequisites for a no hitter: a terrific defense play (or two), a favorable strike zone, and a lot of luck.

Coco Crisp provided the first item in the sixth inning with yet another spectacular running catch with his back to home plate in straightaway center field. Mark Kotsay drove the first pitch of the inning from Schilling to one of the deepest parts of the cavernous ballpark, and Coco got on his horse and kept an eye on it the whole way over his shoulder.

Right before the moment of impact with the wall, the ball came over his shoulder and nestled softly into his glove; Coco pulled on the brakes and glanced off the barrier with nary a scratch, ball in glove and jaws on the floor throughout the stadium.

The miraculous thing was it was the second such catch he's made in the series!

Coming on the heels of that morale-booster the Sox put a mini-rally together in the 7th against Blanton (7IP, 4H, 1ER, 3BB, 2K), only to be thwarted again, although at least it wasn't a double play that led to the downfall.

Following Drew's leadoff base hit Varitek laced a single to center with one out to set up a 1st & 3rd situation with one out. Unfortunately Cora fouled out to the parking-lot sized area near third base and Coco tapped out to Blanton, and the game would stay a 1-run affair.

Boston again flirted with putting an insurance run on the board when it got two men on in the 8th, but a freaky play prevented any damage from being done. Youk had led off with a walk, and when Papi saw the gaping hole on the left side of the infield, he decided to push a bunt that way.

He did get the bunt down, but it went just a few feet in front of the plate (power hitters!), so catcher Jason Kendall pounced on it and threw to second, where Youkilis should have been nailed easily. But Chavez missed the bag and the tag, and when Youk saw the unoccupied third base he decided to test his legs again and broke for the base.

Long story short Marco Scutaro read what Youk was thinking and shadowed him along the infield until he received the ball from Chavez and easily applied the tag to nail Youk about 10 feet before he reached his goal.

The team can laugh play off now, but in the bottom of there was no time for laughter or talking. Schill was three outs away from his first nno-hitter, and he knew what he had to do to get it.

Kotsay grounded out to Lugo on the fourth pitch from Schill. Then Kendall followed suit after just three pitches, and we were one out away from history.

Then Shannon Stewart stepped in, and the fairy tale ending was squashed like a love bug on a semi's grill. Schilling got the sign from Tek, but shook off the first suggestion; instead he went with his instincts and his fastball, and Stewart laced the first pitch past the outstretched glove of Cora and into right field for a clean single.

The no-no gone, the big fella still had a game to win )thanks to another anemic performance from the Sox offense), and he quickly got Mark Cycle Ellis to foul out to Cora to end the game and the miserable losing streak.

So the no-no was no-not to be, but like Schill said after the game, the win was the most important thing today, for him and the Sox, and if that's all he needed, well then mission accomplished.

Turns out that almost witnessing history was a mere bonus.

Thanks, Curt.


QUOTES:

"You never want to get no-hit. The bottom line is we lost the game. Nobody is happy about that."--the classy Stewart, taking the proper perspective


"We get two outs, and I was sure, and I had a plan, and I shook Tek off. And I get a big 'What if?' for the rest of my life."--Schill, lamenting what might have been after the game


RECORD: 38-21

STREAK: W-1

LAST 10: 5-5

AL EAST: Up 10

UP NEXT: Fri @ ARI 9P