Sox Drawer: Schilling done for the season, career may be over, too

His shoulder unresponsive to rehab, Curt Schilling will go under the knife for what could be a career-ending surgery

We all knew this was a possibility at some point. Schill was sporadically healthy the last few seasons, he's 41 years old with a lot of mileage (3000+ innings) on his right arm and shoulder, and this last setback was severe enough that the entire organization had differing opinions on the treatment for it, but all agreed that it could mark the beginning of the end.

Today, on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan Show, Schill admitted it most definitely is the end of his season and quite possibly of his Hall of Fame career.

With the rehab not having the results he and the team had hoped for, Schill admitted it " got to the point where we had to make a decision." When asked "does this end your season?", Schill responded with a soft but definitive "yeah, yeah it does."

The team brass had originally though rehab was all that would be needed to get Schill back on the mound this year, but after a recent setback this weekend, Curt and several doctors, including the one who will perform the surgery, Dr. Craig Morgan, and the team all agreed to go ahead and have the procedure done.

In what sure sounds like a career-ending operation, Morgan will perform a procedure that involves relocating his biceps muscle (ouch!) and "some other stuff", which presumably doesn't include attaching a bionic limb.

Assuming that doesn't happen, it looks like for all intents and purposes the career of one of the greatest big game pitchers ever to play the game is officially over.

So now the retrospectives can roll in. Schilling has been beloved in Boston and Arizona, where he and Randy Johnson helped bring a championship to the desert, but vilified most everywhere else, mainly for his outspoken opinions and willingness to put his foot directly in his mouth, athlete etiquette be damned.

But there's no denying his impact on the game. He leaves (if he is done pitching) after pitching for 20 seasons with 216 victories, 3,116 strikeouts, 3,261 innings pitched and a lifetime ERA of 3.46.

Throw in an all-time best 11-2 playoff record, two World series Championships, one World Series (co) MVP award and one historic bloody sock, and what you have is simply one of the greatest, gutsiest, clutchest (?) pitchers in baseball history.

Forget about all the other bullshit. Sure he was outspoken, said some things he probably shouldn't have (and he regrets) and had a tendency to rub many people the wrong way.

Bottom line he was a one of a kind, a supremely talented athlete who wasn't prone to speaking in cliches and soundbites, who believed in living life the way he wanted, whether it involved making brash statements or writing a blog that opened him up to even more criticism.

Love him or hate him Schill was a blessing to watch and listen to. He didn't care what people thought, he spoke his mind and he gave it his all every time he was on the mound.

And if the last time he ever pitched in the major leagues was last October 25th in Game 2 of the World Series in Colorado, so be it.

He won that game, by the way, and what a fitting way for a future Hall of Famer to go out.

As a winner on the biggest stage the game knows.

Good luck, Curt, and thanks for everything.

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ALCS GM2: Nixon burns Boston as bully implodes in 11th

Cleveland 13, Sox 6
WP: Mastny (1-0)
LP: Gagne (0-1)
HRs: BOS-Manny (3), Lowell (1)

RECAP
A see-saw affair that ended at 1:30 in the morning resulted in one of the most painful postseason losses in Red Sox history.

Original Dirt Dog Trot Nixon slapped a run-scoring single off alleged lefty specialist Javier Lopez with one out in the 11th inning, and Cleveland went on to score six more times to cap a long, cold, bizarre night at Fenway and tied the ALCS at two games apiece.

#1 STUNNER Jhonny Peralta 3-5, 3R, 4RBI, 2B, HR
The stubby shortstop was a thorn in Boston's side all night; he clubbed a three-run homer to erase a Sox lead in the fourth, scored the tying run after a leadoff walk in the sixth, and got the Tribe into double-digits when he greeted Jon Lester with an RBI double in the 11th.

Too bad he can't friggin spell.

Honorable mention for Trotter for coming through in the clutch against his former mates after sitting out most of the first two games, and to the Indians offense, which rapped 17 hits off the previously stellar Sox staff.

GAGME Eric Gagne 1/3IP, 1H, 2ER, 1BB, 1K
The man who will be forever saddled with the distinction of representing one of the worst mid-season acquisitions in Red Sox history lived up to his new reputation as a weak-armed, washed-up douchebag when he allowed a pair of baserunners and a pair of runs to start the 11th inning, cementing his status as a colossal has-been who can't get anyone out at any time ever.

Dishonorable mention to Javier Lopez for allowing Gagne's inherited problems to score, and also to Francona for having the utter stupidity to bring this piece of garbage into a tie, extra inning postseason ballgame.

RECAP
Wow.

Or maybe I should say "ow".

Because that would be the appropriate reaction to a loss that hurt pretty damn badly in an "it's only a game, not life or death" sorta way.

The Red Sox rollicking postseason party came to a screeching halt last night at Fenway as they fell to the Tribe in the frigid early morning hours after a game in which Curt Schilling couldn't make it through the fifth inning and the vaunted Boston bullpen could not get the big out when it needed to.

There will be plenty of blame to go around today, and I'm sure Francona is getting lambasted just as much as Gagne, Lopez and Delcarmen, but the truth is this loss was a team effort--nobody really played well enough to make sure the team left town with a 2-0 lead under its belt.

As I sit here after attending the Bucs game with my son today, I find that I can't even summon the strength nor the desire to post about this game. There were some fantastic highlights for the home team, like Manny and Lowell going back-to-back to give Boston a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the fifth, and, well, Manny walking with the bases loaded for the third time in the series and Lowell following that with a 2-RBI single that gave Boston an early 3-1 lead...

...but for each of those pleasant memories there are at least a half a dozen horrible ones, like a shaky Schilling (4.2IP, 9H, 5ER, 0BB, 3K, 2HR) surrendering a 3-run bomb to deep left center to Jhonny Peralta to cough up that 3-1 lead in the fourth, or Manny Delcarmen allowing an RBI groundout to tie the game at six in the sixth, a blunder that set the stage for this long game's journey into late night.

Not to mention Gagne's arrival into the picture, a move that elicited stunned silence from the Faithful and after his sudden-but expected departure, caused Stephen King to begin furiously penning a new tome entitled The Day a Has-Been Closer Might Have Blown the Pennant."

As you can see there is just too much to cover and so little time, and since I'm not making a dime for any of this, I'm just gonna let you guys read what everyone else is saying about this one and take a breather for a while.

Hopefully Francona will do the same for Gagne.

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ALDS Result: Sox sweep Angels to advance to ALCS

Sox 9, Angles 1
WP: Schilling (1-0)
LP: Weaver (0-1)
HRs: Manny (2), Papi (2)

Two men who played a major part in the ALDS sweep share a big hug after the game. Not that there's anything wrong with that

SUMMARY
The Red Sox made it back to the American League Championship Series for the third time since 2003 with a decisive victory over the battered & bruised Angles.

Curt Schilling was his usual masterful postseason self, pitching seven solid shutout innings, Ortiz & Ramirez went back-to-back for the first time this season, and Boston blew open a 2-0 game with a 7-run 8th to defeat Los Angeles for a record-tying ninth consecutive time in postseason play.

Boston will wait for the winner of the Cleveland/New York series before beginning the ALCS at Fenway on Friday night.

#1 STUNNER Schilling 7IP, 6H, 0R, 1BB, 4K
The guy might not possess the blazing fastball or wicked splitter of his youth, but put Curt Schilling on the mound in a playoff game and good things seem to happen.

Schill won his 9th postseason game today (against 2 losses), running his record to a perfect 4-0 in division series, and notched a victory in his first postseason start since Game 2 of the 2004 World Series.

Bottom line no matter his age or the speed of his pitches, put this warrior on the mound in a playoff game and chances are he's going to will his team to a win.

GAGME Angles bullpen 4IP, 6H, 7ER, 2BB, 4K
After starter Jered Weaver kept the score close for five innings, the LA bully blew open a tight game and turned a stomach-twister into a laugher.

RECAP
What late-season swoon?

The Red Sox made the unpleasant memories and unwanted doubts created by their near-catastrophic collapse disappear entirely with a dominating three game performance over their personal playoff bitches, the Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels.

Crippled by injuries and manhandled by a superior pitching staff, the Angles went down with barely a whimper, scoring just four runs in the three games, three coming in the second inning of Game 2 and one lone run today off (who else) Eric Gagne in the ninth inning.

That's it. Four runs scored in two innings over three games.

LA also managed just 19 hits, only six for extra bases, for a .192 average and 1.3 runs/game, while Boston blasted 19 runs and 25 hits including five homers, four by the newly reformed Dynamic Duo, plus saw their pitchers compile a stunning 1.33 ERA.

Put it all together and it all adds up to another Angel ass-kicking, a tradition that of nine straight wins that started two games before the Hendu/Donnie Moore game in the 1986 ALCS, extended through Papi's walk-off sweep job in Game 3 of the 2004 ALDS and right up through Beckett's masterpiece in Game 1 of this series.

The Halos might want to petition Bud Selig to switch to the AL East or the National League to avoid having to play Boston in the playoffs for as long as possible.

Either that or just go back to sucking again, which is a distinct possibility with this band of banged-up & broken-down fossils.

The story of this series was the overwhelming advantage in pitching and offense the Sox held over Los Angeles, and today was a perfect example of that. While Schill was shutting down the depleted Angel lineup, Boston's big boppers got to work on building a lead they knew Schill wouldn't relinquish.

Early on it didn't look like the offense was clicking when Boston blew another golden scoring opportunity in the second inning as Angels starter Jered Weaver (5IP, 4H, 2ER, 3BB, 5K) recorded three straight outs following a leadoff walk to Manny and a double down the left field line by Mike Lowell.

And Schill looked shaky as well, surrendering hits in each of the first two innings before working into--and out of--a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the third.

Juan Rivera led off the frame with a bloop single into left, Schill struck out catcher Mike Napoli and got Chone Figgins to ground into a fielder's choice, forcing Rivera at second. Should have been end of trouble, right?

Wrong. Old friend Orlando OC Cabrera laced a single to center, and when Schilling walked Bad Vlad on four pitches, suddenly a harmless situation became dangerously explosive in a matter of minutes.

But Schill buckled down and made some terrific pitches to Reggie yes, I'm white Willits, including a fastball on a 1-2 count that Willits peeled back of home plate, and with the quickness of a lynx Captain Tek wheeled around, sprinted back, went into a classic catcher's slide and caught the ball before he hit the wall, a play that caused the Nation to roar and Schilling to utter a Papelbon-like primal scream as he exited the field--and the jam.

Not five minutes later the Sox would score the only runs they would need to close out the series, and they scored them in grand style.

First Ortiz (2-3, 2R, BI, BB) smoked a hanging 0-1 breaking ball from Weaver over the right field fence for his second homer of the series and 11th in his last 24 games, and then eight pitches later Manny, who hit his first homer since August 28th to win Game 2 Friday night, absolutely torched a Weaver fastball high, long and deep to straightaway center field, where it bounced off the faux-rock hardtop section like a gymnast off a trampoline, and just like that it was 2-0, let the champagne flow.

Believe it or not that was the first time all season Boston's dynamic duo hit back-to-back jacks. Couldn't have picked a better time, fellas.

Buoyed by the newfound lead Schill set down 9 of the next 10 Angle batters, and even though Boston botched a couple more scoring chances by hitting into a pair of double plays, as the game got later you couldn't help but get the feeling that those two runs felt like a dozen to the fading So Cal boys.

After Schill needed only 9 pitches to dispatch with three batter in the sixth, Tito ran his horse out there for the seventh, a move that nearly backfired when Coco Crisp failed to come up with yet another miraculous catch off a Maicer Izturis sinking liner to lead off the inning, a hit that went for a double despite Crisp's heroic effort.

Howie "no, I'm not white" Kendrick advanced Izturis to third with a groundout, but Schill needed just two pitches to get Rivera to pop out harmlessly to Youk at first base, and he saved his best for last when Napoli worked a full count before whiffing on a splitter in the dirt, and once again Schill exited the field with a Papelbon-esque fist pump/scream.

That lit bit of adrenaline from their veteran leader was all the fuel the offense needed to bust the game wide open; well, that and some horrid relief work by the Angles pen.

The Sox scored seven runs in the top of the 8th off Justin Speir and Darren Oliver, and onslaught that began with a leadoff walk to Lugo, follwed by a ringing double by Dustin Pedroia, and containing RBI hits by Lowell (of course), Varitek, Coco a sac fly by Younk and an RBI fielder's chioce by J.D. Drew.

When the smoke cleared the score was 9-0 Boston, and all but the West Coast contingent of the Nation was left to sneak down to the expensive seats to witness the on field postgame celebration first hand.

Hideki Okajima relieved Schill in the 8th and allowed a double and a walk before escaping the inning unscathed, but unfortunately Tito inserted Schleprock Gagne into the game in the ninth, and the washed-up shitbag immediately proceeded to surrender the only run of the day for the Angles on a double by Izturis, a wild pitch and a sac fly.

Oh well. As the final out off pinch hitter Rob Quinlan's bat plopped into Coco's glove, the Sox streamed onto the field to celebrate getting one step closer to their ultimate goal, confident in the knowledge that with the pitchers throwing the ball like they have, and with the big hitters mashing the ball at just the right moments, this team is as close to unstoppable as it has been in year.

Like three years, to be exact.

Congratulations, BoSox.

The Nation never had any doubt you guys would make it this far (wink wink)

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ALDS Preview: Sox @ Angles

Schilling (9-8) vs. Weaver (13-7)
307 EST @ LA of A Stadium

The Red Sox can wrap up their third trip to the American league Championship series in four years with a victory today, and they'll have one of the most prolific postseason pitchers of all-time on the mound to try and accomplish that feat.

Curt Schilling carries an 8-2 mark with two World Series titles, a Series MVP award and one of the most famous socks in the history of sports into this matchup in sunny Southern California, and with the way he pitched down the stretch combined with the white-hot spotlight of postseason play, look for the veteran to rise to the occasion against shaky Angels starter Jered Weaver.

Weaver makes his postseason debut this afternoon, and he'll need to perform like his big brother Jeff did for the Cardinals last season if he wants to get this series to a Game 4 on Monday. After jumping out to an 11-2 record last in his rookie year last season, Weaver has come back to earth with a spotty 2007, although he did go 3-1 in September to make his record a little more respectable.

Still, you're talking about an October greenhorn going up against a seasoned veteran of 9 playoff series and 15 postseason starts, including four games on the sport's ultimate stage, so Weaver will have to mentally as well as psychically tough enough to endure the pressure he will be under this afternoon at Angels Stadium.

Not surprisingly, the Sox will utilize the same lineup they have for the first two games (if it ain't broke, don't fix it), while Anaheim will mix things up a bit. First baseman Casey Kotchman will not play due to an undisclosed illness, although banged-up slugger Vlad Guerrero will return to right field and Juan Rivera will take over the DH duties.

Bottom line is the Sox can get a head start on resting up for the ALCS by dispatching with the Halos for the 9th consecutive time in the postseason, and with the Stanks now playing for Joe Torre's job, you can bet that series will go at least five games, giving Boston plenty of time to rest up for what will be an epic series no matter who the opponent will be.

Because as long as Boston gets there, WTF cares who they play.

Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!.

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Manny's return, plus 10 walks, spark Sox to win

Sox 7, Oakland 3
WP: Schilling (9-8)
LP: Gaudin (11-13)
HRs: BOS-Papi (33); OAK-Barton (3)

Manny Being Manny: after missing the last 25 games, Ramirez stepped in a knocked a single in his first at bat.

SUMMARY
Boston inched one step closer to wrapping up the division title when it handled its bidness against the fading As.

Curt Schilling had his best outing since he no-hit Oakland back in June, holding the As to six hits and a single run in six innings of work, and coupled with the Stanks' extra-inning loss in Tampa Bay, the Sox magic number to clinch the East is now 3 games.

#1 STUNNER Schilling 6IP, 6H, 1ER, 0BB, 6K, HR
When Curt allowed a first-inning homer to some nobody named Daric Barton, the whole Nation had that "here we go again" feeling. But after that mistake, Schill settled in and pitched a whale of a game when his team needed him most, just for old time's sake.

GAGME Chad Gaudin 4IP, 3H, 3ER, 7BB, 3K
The former D-Rays hurler had a Tampa Bay kind of night, surrendering just three hits but issuing a staggering seven walks in four+ innings, including a horrendous sequence in which he walked the first four batters of the fifth inning.

Three relievers also chipped in with a freebie each to round the total off at an even 10.

RECAP
Manny made his long-awaited return.

Schill looked playoff-ready.

Youk made a cameo appearance.

Lowell notched another RBI.

Papi hit another home run.

J.D. Drew had three more hits.

Ellsbury had another big night.

The Stanks lost to the Rays.

The division lead is up to three with five to play.

Is it okay to come off the ledge now?

After weeks filled with agita, anger and utter amazement for the team and the Nation over the second half swoon which nearly led to another entry in the "embarrassing, historical collapse" file, it looks as if we can finally breathe a little easier now that the 1 1/2 game division lead has swelled to 3 games in the past two days.

How good are things looking right now?

Boston gained a half game yesterday without even playing, and tonight New York blew a 5-0 lead and wasted an A-Rod grand slam in coming from ahead to lose to the baby Rays in extra innings.

That's how good.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting this thing is all sewn up. Hardly. We're just a three-game losing streak (unlikely, given the competition, but possible) and a three-game Stankee winning streak (likely, considering their competition) away from a final weekend shootout to see who takes home the division crown.

I'm just saying I like our chances a lot more tonight than I did after the Sox lost to Tampa Bay in miserable fashion on Sunday afternoon.

As you can tell by my lazy list above there were plenty of reasons to be happy about tonight's game, not the least of which was the return of mercurial slugger Manny Ramirez to the Boston lineup after a 25 game absence. As odd as it may have been to see him hitting in the two-hole for the first time in his career, just having his bat back in the lineup meant wonders for the psyche of the team.

It also didn't hurt that he lined a single in his first at bat and also drew a walk and scored a run in his first game action since August 28th.

But Manny's return wasn't the end of the good news for Boston. Starting pitcher Curt Schilling continued to look impressive in his return from shoulder fatigue with another solid outing, allowing just one earned run for the third time in his last six starts, and this time his teammates got him some runs to work with, albeit not many while he was in there.

In fact despite the addition of Ramirez, the late addition of Ellsbury as a replacement for Coco Crisp, and a ton of baserunners, Boston once again had to make the most out of a small amount of runs in what could have been a Sox blowout had the been able to cash in on some golden opportunities.

See, some things haven't changed for the better.

I'm not going to bother going into in depth detail on what went on in this one; it's too late in the season for that, and besides the how isn't important right now.

In brief summary Schill surrendered a solo shot in the first, and the Sox answered back on a RBI double by Mike Lowell in the bottom of the inning. Then they scored a pair in the fifth on the quartet of walks and a sac fly by Ellsbury (), another run in the seventh on an single by Ellsbury (can you say "spark plug"?), and finally they tacked on three in the eighth on a Kielty sac fly and Papi's 33rd homer of the season.

After Schill left, Manny D. pitched a scoreless seventh, then Tito (foolishly)brought on Gagme to pitch the eighth inning of a 4-1 contest. Bad idea. The hapless reliever allowed two more baserunners, forcing Francona to go to his close in the 8th again, and Paps came in and showed Gagme how it's done by ending the inning with one pitch.

Oakland added a couple of runs in the 9th when Bryan Corey couldn't close the game out the right way, but in the end the final score didn't matter.

All that mattered was Boston won, New York lost, Manny's back, the lead is comfy, and the end is almost near.

Fingers crossed this one is a happy ending.

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Pitcher's duel turns into another heartbreaking loss

Stankees 4, Sox 3
WP: Chamberlain (2-0)
LP: Schilling (8-8)
SV: Rivera (28)
HRs: BOS-Lowell (); NYY-Jeter (11)

SUMMARY
Hall of Fame workhorses Roidger Clemens and Curt Schilling engaged in a tense and exciting pitchers duel, combining to allow one earned run on five total hits through the fist six innings.

But while Clemens exited the game after six, Tito stuck with Schill into the eighth, a move that backfired like Grady/Petey as Curt surrendered three hits including Jeter's three-run Monster shot in the inning, essentially handing the season series--and any postseason momentum--to New York.

#1 STUNNER Jeter 2-4, 1R, 3BI, HR
The Stankee captain has raked Boston pitching in general and Curt Schilling in particular all season long. Coming into the game he was batting .382 with five homers vs. the Sox, and now he can add a game-winning homer to those gaudy stats.

PAN's FAUN Schilling 7.2IP, 6H, 4ER, 0BB, 2K, 2HR
He didn't pitch all that poorly, in fact he was brilliant in stretches, but you can't expect to beat these assclowns by allowing homers to Cano and Jeter all the time. I mean A-Rod I can take, but not those two mighty mites.

RECAP
In the end Boston found themselves in a situation that seemed to be sprawl from the pages of a lyrical baseball novel--bases loaded, home team down by a run, the legendary slugger at the plate facing the opponent's legendary closer on the mound, season series hanging in the balance, final inning of the final regular season game between bitter archrivals.

But this isn't literature and although the mighty Papi did not strike out, his weak popper that was caught by--fittingly--Derek Jeter, put a cap on what was at times an exhilarating, exasperating and totally exhausting 19-game series against the boys from the Bronx.

And who woulda thunk that the two old, injured aces would both turn in stellar performances in a mano-a-mano duel in which neither pitcher wanted to blink, and barely did for the first half of the contest.

Boston would draw blood first when it scored a run in the first inning courtesy of a hit, a walk and an error.

The error came when Judas Demon let Jacoby Ellsbury's (0-4, R, SB) liner to left handcuff him and drop out of his glove to lead off the inning, and after Pedroia flied out and Ellsbury stole second, Clemens walked David Ortiz before surrendering an RBI single to Mike Lowell, the third baseman's team-leading 107th ribbie of the season.

After Clemens got J. D. Drew to fly out to deep left center, Jason Varitek came up with a chance to pad the lead against the veteran righty, but his bid for an extra base hit was stymied on an incredibly lucky snag by first baseman Doug the Ball Stealer Mientkiewicz, who after realizing he had stopped the ball outraced the captain to the bag for the out.

So it was 1-0 Boston on an unearned run after one inning, but it would be the last time the Sox would cross the plate for quite a while.

Both starters would find their grooves over the next three innings when each team only put one runner on base and couldn't even sniff a scoring opportunity.

But this is Sox/Stanks--you know a 1-0 game was out of the friggin question.

That fact hit home hard when official pain-in-the-ass second baseman Robinson Cano took a 1-0 offering from Schilling and deposited it in the Monster seats to tie the game. It was Cano's 6th hit in 12 at bats against Curt this season, and three of those hits have been homers.

In fact if Schilling had just read the ESPN preview before the game, he might have come away from this one with a W:

"Schilling is winless in four starts this year against New York, going 0-2 with a 5.76 ERA. He's had the most trouble with Derek Jeter, who is 7-for-12 against him this year, and Robinson Cano, who's 5-for-11."

Boy would that last little sentence prove prophetic.

Faced with a brand new ballgame both hurlers buckled down again, retiring the next 10 batters before Clemens ran into trouble by walking Papi and allowing a single to Mike Lowell with one out in the fifth. Lowell's hit was just the second the Rocket had allowed on the night, both by the Boston third baseman.

But Clemens got Drew to ground into a forceout to second base (shocker!), and then Cap'n Tek, who is mired in a horrendous 1-21 slump, ended another inning with a fly out to Demon in left, and yet another possible scoring opportunity had gone by the wayside for the sporadic Sox.

Please come back, Manny, please!

That wound up being Clemens' last batter as Torre went to heralded rookie Joba Chamberlain with the game tied and the series in the balance to start the seventh.

The hefty hurler brought a zero ERA into the contest and had only allowed eight hits in 16 innings this season, but he was greeted with a double high off the Monster by battering ram Eric Hinske to start the inning, and when Coco sacrificed him to third on the very next pitch, it looked like that scoreless streak was about to come to an end.

But then Lugo whiffed on a 100 mph heater just off the plate, and when Chamberlain got Ellsbury to ground to first and the Ball Stealer made another fantastic play to beat the speedster to the bag, the momentum was clearly with New York as the game wore on.

Uncle Mo swung full circle in the eighth when a tiring Schilling came out to try and give his beleaguered bullpen as much of a rest as he could, but it turned out that just like Grady should have done four years ago with Pedro Martinez in the Bronx, Tito should have stepped in and said "thanks, but hit the showers" to Schill before the inning even began.

That became apparent as soon as the Ball Stealer laced a one-out single to left center, and by the time Giambi stepped into the on-deck circle to pinch hit for catcher Jose Molina, you could almost sense something disastrous was about to happen.

Schilling made a decent pitch to Giambi, he just reached out and sliced it high off the top of the Monster for a double that missed being a homer by about six inches, but in a few minutes that minor inconvenience would become a forgotten memory.

Jeter came to the plate blistering Boston pitching this season,a nd with the game on the line you have to wonder why Francona didn't pull the plug on the situation right there and bring in Manny D.

After running the count to 2-2, Jeter teed off on a fat Schilling fastball for a mammoth wall shot that nearly left the building, and just like that nearly every television set in the Nation swapped the game over to the Pats shellacking of the Chargers on Sunday Night Football.

But for those who stayed with the game, Boston proved they were not going to let this series get away without a fight.

Lowell would pop the Chamberlain cherry when he uncorked a solo shot to deep left center with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to cut the deficit to 4-2, and with Mariano Rivera coming in for the ninth, a man who has blown more saves against Boston (11) than any other team in his illustrious career, there was hope for a miraculous comeback yet.

And when Varitek drew a leadoff walk against the leatherfaced closer, that hope grew to full-fledged possibility.

A pair of groundouts got Tek around to third, but with two outs the hope was fading into doubt. Then Julio Lugo doubled to the left center field gap to score Hinske with run #3, and hope had turned back into all-out belief that the boys could get it done, especially if Papi could get to the plate.

The Faithful got their wish when Rivera nailed Ellsbury with a pitch and then walked Pedroia to load the bases for the most clutch hitter in modern Red Sox history, setting the stage for an improbable comeback that could propel the Sox to the division title and points beyond.

Ortiz got the count in his favor, 2-1, before fouling off a classic Rivera cutter, and then he swung at what was probably ball three and blooped it out to Jeter, who looked up, watched the ball drop into his glove, and then pumped his fist a-la Jonathan Papelbon, a gesture meant to say "see you guys in October".

So New York took the season series 10-8 after Boston had won 6 of the first 8 games, and with the best record in baseball over the last three months and the confidence gained from drilling Boston in 6 of the last 7 meetings, it's safe to say that although the division lead remains in Boston's hands, the post season momentum clearly resides with the pinstripes.

Damn Stankees!

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Game Preview: Stanks at Sox GM3

Clemens (6-6, 4.17) vs. Schilling (8-7, 3.97)
Fenway 8PM ESPN

This regular season finale of the season series with the Stanks will truly be one for the ages.

As in, ages 45 and 40, otherwise known as Mr. Roidger Clemens and Mr. Curt Schilling.

That's right the ultimate game of a long and winding 18-game series has come down to two of the oldest and most decorated lights-out big game pitchers this rivalry has ever seen.

Clemens, the former Sox phenom turned Public Enemy #1 in the Nation, will be making his first regular-season start at Fenway since August 2003 and his first start in his old haunts since an October matchup vs. Pedro Martinez that same season.

The reception will not be kind for the man who has jerked the Sox brass around in two of the last three seasons by leveraging a potential deal with Boston to sign for greater money elsewhere, first in Houston and then this spring with New York.

They'll be a lot of "fuck you too, dickhead!"s flying around Fenway.

This will also be the first time Schilling and Clemens have faced each other since Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, when Schill's D-Backs defeated Clemens and the Stanks 3-2 in a game in which both hurlers turned in herculean efforts. Schilling would go on to win the MVP and then break an 86-year-old curse, while Clemens would go on to string teams along like a 14-year-old girl for the next six years.

Both pitchers have been feeling their age this year, with Schill spending a month on the DL with a shoulder injury and Clemens coming off a two-week hiatus due to an elbow problem. But both will be fired up to get the win in this series finale, a game that might not decide the division title, but one that both teams--and proud pitchers--want badly nonetheless.

Go Sox!

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Kazmir Karves his way through ragtag Sox lineup

Tampa Bay 1, Sox 0
WP: Kazmir (12-8)
LP: Schilling (8-7)
SV: Reyes (24)
HRs: None

SUMMARY
Rays ace Scott Kazmir continued his mastery of the Bosox by tossing seven innings of five-hit shutout ball, walking just two while striking out 10 Boston players in leading Tampa Bay to its 13th win in its last 17 games.

#1 STUNNER Kazmir 7IP, 5H, 2BB, 10K
With 10 more strikeouts tonight the 23-year-old lefty now has fanned 109 Boston batters in 96 1/3 career innings against the Sox.

PAN's FAUN Tito Francona
He is rewriting the book on juggling lineups this season, and I know he's hamstrung by injuries, but the starting nine he rolled out there tonight against a top-notch starter was an abomination.

RECAP
After following this team for the better part of 25 years and witnessing a plethora of pitiful lineups, perhaps due to the foggy onset of my 40's, I cannot remember an odder starting nine to take the field for the Sox than I watched line up against the Rays tonight.

And it starts right from the top.

Literallly and literally.

Terry Francona had already been strapped for solutions without the services of his mercurial left fielder and cleanup hitter Manny Ramirez for the past couple of weeks, and when word came out of Yawkey way that Papi was going to need the night off as well, presumably to rest his achy knee but more realistically due to his .147 lifetime average vs. Kazmir, well you knew what Tito might scratch together had the potential to be, shall we shay, unconventional.

How unconventional was it?

How about your 5' 9" second baseman, who has 8 homers and 52 RBI in his career, batting in Big Papi's #3 slot?

Not bad enough?

What about using your .240-hitting shortstop as your tablesetter, placing a guy at the top of the order who has a .249 OBP for the season in control of jump starting the offense?

Still not de,err impressed?

How do you explain burying electric rookie OBP machine Jacoby Ellsbury in the eight spot? Huh? I know he's facing a tough young lefty, but let the kid with the hottest hand on the club try to jump start the makeshift lineup?

I could go on about Bobby Kielty, he of the .319 slugging percentage, batting fifth, or having Alex Cora, mired in a 1-20 slump, bringing up the rear of this motley crew, but I don't want to harp.

Let's just say that Tito's merry ragtime band of a lineup cost the Sox this game and leave it at that.

Because against a pitcher like Kazmir, who has enjoyed some of the most successful games of his young career against this club was like sending Britney Spears out onstage first at an awards show.

A disaster waiting to happen.

The hard-luck victim of all this lineup lunacy was Mr. Curt Schilling, who for the third straight start contributed a quality start only to see his efforts get wasted due to a dearth of offense once again.

Schilling (6IP, 5H, ER, BB, 5K), who in his last three starts has allowed 19 hits and six earned runs in 19 innings for a 2.84ERA, showed more promising signs of fully recovering from his shoulder injury as he scattered five hits and a walk through the first five innnigs and only got into real trouble once, and that small indiscretion ended up costing him the win.

Greg Norton (2-3, R) got the winning rally started when he doubled over Ellsbury's head and off the scoreboard to lead off the fifth inning. Catcher Dioner Navarro, who ironically leads the Rays in sac bunts although he is portly and can't hit worth a lick, then moved Norton over to third, and four pitches later Josh Wilson launched a sac fly to right to score Norton with the games one and only run.

Not like that was the end of the excitement, though.

Aki Iwamura and Carl Crawford bot followed with two-out singles to put Schill and the Sox in a real jam, and the veteran had to know that any more runs allowed would make it drastically tougher for the lineup to comeback, and with Rays leading power man and longshot MVP candidate Carlos Pena at the dish, the game was basically on the line right then.

Schill merely got Pena to wave at a crowd-inspiring splitter to end the threat, and the way the old man escaped a tough spot just like the old days had the giddy Faithful believeing a comeback was just around the corner.

The Sox had put the leadoff batter on base in four of the first five innings, so when Varitek worked a walk to leadoff the bottom of the fifth the crowd could sense a potential rally was at hand, especially with Bostonian Idol Ellsbury coming to bat.

But Kaz induced the wunderkind to ground into a fielder's choice, forcing Tek at second, and then things got ugly from there.

After Cora ran the count full, he sliced a sinking line drive into center field that looked as if it were going to drop in for a hit, but B.J. Upton came gliding over to snag the shot before it could fall to the turf, catching not only the ball but everyone including Ellsbury, who was at second base already, off guard.

As Jacoby turned and hightailed it back to first Upton unloaded a cannon back to the infield and nipped Jacoby just before he got back to the back for a demoralizing inning-ending double play, and just like that one of the Sox best chances to get back in the game had gone up in flames.

Boston finally got two base runners on in the same inning when Kielty singled and tek walked with one out in the seventh, but Kazmir got Ellsbury (1-3) to whiff on a swing that only a lumberjack could love, then got Cora to tap into a force out to squelch the threat.

The last golden scoring chance Boston would get came when Joe Maddon finally removed Kazmir after the seventh and Dan Wheeler came in for the eighth. Wheeler walked Coco with one out, then saw him steal second easily as he struck out Pedroia looking for out #2.

The tying run was now in scoring position with money Mike Lowell at the plate and Ortiz on the on deck circle to pinch hit, and the crowd could sense something was about to happen here.

Unfortunately that something was Lowell staring at a filthy breaking pitch from Wheeler right down the middle of the plate for strike three, and with that Boston's last gasp chance at getting this game even went by the wayside.

Boston did get a measure of revenge for the Ellsbury gaffe after Delmon Young led off the 9th with a single off Mike Timlin, then got burned like Jacoby when he took off for third on a high deep drive to center by Brendan Harris.

Trouble was Coco made another one of his nightly spectacular catches, tracking the ball all the way back to the wall, timing his leap and hauling the ball in, then he fired it back to Cora who relayed to first to catch the napping Young for the "take that" double play.

But the feel good play would quickly be forgotten when the Sox, including pinch hitter papi, went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th, and the Sox and the Faithful realized they had just been punked by not only the Rays and Kazmir but by their own manager as well.

Tito, here's a bit of advice for ya: you want to beat a pitcher who treats you as his personal chew toy, don't start your second baseman in the spot reserved for your power hitting DH for starters, numb nuts.

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Porous pen brings Sox streak to an end

Toronto 6, Sox 4
WP: Accardo (4-3)
LP: Okajima (3-2)
HRs: BOS-Varitek (13); TOR- Wells (16), Glaus (20)

SUMMARY
The Sox supplied starter Curt Schilling with two leads tonight but the bullpen could not close the deal. Manny Delcarmen allowed a solo shot to Troy Glaus to tie the game in the 8th, and Hideki Okajima gave up a 2-run shot to Vernon Wells in the 9th that brought Boston's 4-game winning streak to an abrupt halt.

#1 STUNNER Wells 3-5, 2R, 2BI
Wells came into the game on an 0-12 skid, went 0-2 in his first two ABs, then ripped off three straight hits including the game winner, a deep drive to straightaway center that got out of the park in a hurry and left the Faithful in stunned silence.

PAN's FAUN (s) Oki & Manny D 2IP, 3H, 3ER, 2K, 2HR
When your veteran starter gives you a quality start and your offense scratches & claws to retake the lead, you would think the artists formerly known as the best bully in baseball could close the game out, right? Right!?

RECAP
Ah, we shoulda seen this one coming.

The Red Sox playoff wagon was starting to ramp up to ridiculous speed following four wins that featured a no-hitter, an explosion of offense, the rise of a new young superstar outfielder and three consecutive appearances (and saves) from the closer for the first time all season.

So anyone wearing a scruffy old Sox hat made in the previous century should have known that the good times would end sooner rather than later, and when the fun finally did end, things could get sideways in a hurry.

And boy did things get out of hand fast.

The third straight quality start for Curt Schilling ended with a no decision beacuse when he exited the contest after six innings two of Boston's top two relievers could not get the outs that were necessary to secure the game and Schill's 9th win.

That's coachspeak for Delcarmen & Okajima sucked ass.

Boston jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on another fielder's choice groundout that could have been a double play, exactly how yesterday's first run scored, but Schill (6IP, 8H, 3ER, BB, 2K) gave that up and more when he surrendered three runs after two were out in the top of the fifth.

After issuing a one-out walk to Greg Zaun Schill retired John MacDonald on a pop out, apparently ending any Toronto rally.

But the Jays batters, led by Wells' first hit in 14 at bats, then stroked four consecutive singles, the last three each driving in one run as Schilling could not stop the station-to-station bleeding.

Finally Curt got Troy Glaus to line out to Jacoby Ellsbury in left, but the 1-0 lead, along with all the good Fenway vibrations, had disappeared in a matter of minutes.

Still, it was early, and when Boston loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning on a walk to Tek, a beautiful bunt single by Coco and, after a failed bunt/strikeout by Alex Cora, a single by Julio Lugo, it looked like they would get right back in the game.

Well, not quite.

Ellsbury did manage to get his bat on a low sinker from starter Shawn Marcum (5IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 2K) and drive it deep enough into center firled to score Tek with the Sox second run, but when Big Papi fouled out on a nice play by Glaus at third, the potential big inning was reduced to a single run.

Then for some reason the insane Jays manager John Gibbons (it fucking amazes me this dickwad still has an MLB head coaching job) decided to remove Marcum, his hottest pitcher and winner of seven of his last eight decisions, and the Sox batters wasted no time teeing off on reliever Brian Wolfe.

Wolfe got the first two outs of the sixth and then much like Schill he fell apart a bit when he was on the doorstep of getting out of the frame.

The first mistake came when he nailed Youk with a pitch which not only opened up a pretty good gash on his right forearm but also put the tying run on base, but he followed that bit of stupidity by practically placing a fastball on a tee for Captain Tek, who proceeded to hammer the generous offering into the bleachers in right to put the Sox ahead again, 4-3.

With Schill done for the night, all the pen had to do was get nine outs and this one was in the bag.

Turned out to be easier said than done.

September callup and 2006 coffee drinker Bryan Corey came on first and although he did allow a single by Wells to lead off the inning, he got a ground ball by Matt Stairs that Cora turned into a slick double play, and then he got Alex Rios to ground out to end the inning.

Six more outs to go.

But Boston blew its chance to break the game wide open when another bases loaded situation ended without a run crossing home plate in the seventh.

Gibby used three relievers in this inning and they all allowed baserunners, but after Casey Janssen walked Lowell to pack the sacks he struck out J.D. "Boo!" (it's official now) and Youk to escape the jam unscathed.

You know what happened next.

Delcarmen came on for the 8th and gave up a towering, slicing drive to Glaus that just stayed fair but left the building entirely, and just like that everyone knew this game was going to spell the end of the winning streak, and temporarily, the good times on Yawkey Way.

That suspicion was quickly confirmed when Okajima took the mound in the 9th, promptly hit Zaun with a pitch, and then gave up a heatseeking missile to Wells that soared above the tall center field wall and officially put an end to the feel-good mini-streak.

Now it's off to B-More, a team falling apart faster than Senator Craig but one that has been a pain in Boston's side all season.

At least Papelbon should be ready to go again.

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Game Preview: Toronto @ Sox GM3

Marcum (12-5, 3.75) vs. Schilling (8-6, 4.02)
Fenway Park 705

Ah, it's always enjoyable when things are all rainbows and lollipops in Soxland.

The new kids are more than alright, the injured vets are healing, and the club has used the strength of this four game winning streak to increase its AL East lead back to a somewhat secure seven games with 23 games left in the season.

Yep, it's a good time to be a Sox fan right now...

...as opposed to last week when it was pure misery.

Tonight Curt Schilling will try and keep the good times rolling as he takes the mound for his sixth start since returning from the DL. In those starts he is 2-2 with an ND, and while he is still struggling to find some consistency he has pitched well in three of those previous five starts.

In the three good starts (8/12 vs. BAL, 8/24 vs. CWS, 8/30 vs. NYY) he has allowed just 14 hits and 3 earned runs in 19 innings (1.42ERA), but in the two rough starts (both vs. LAA, 8/6 & 8/18) Schill gave up 17 hits and 9 earned runs in just 12 innings for a 6.75 ERA.

I guess they just shouldn't let him pitch against the Angles.

Hopefully he will pitch better than his career record (3-6, 5.68) against Toronto tonight, because opposing him will be the Jays hot young righty Shawn Marcum.

Marcum has won 8 of his last 10 starts and although he hasn't exactly been dominant, he has been steady enough to provide the Jays another quality starter to go along with hard luck Roy Halladay.

Last time out the Nation needed Schill to come up big against the Stanks to prevent an embarrassing sweep, and if it weren't for little Robbie Cano, he might have accomplished that mission.

Tonight we need him to come up big to keep the winning streak going, keep the momentum going, and prevent another bad loss from derailing all the good vibes floating around Fenway right now.

Is that too much to ask from a former ace?

NOTES: With his 0-4 last night Lowell snapped his 15-game hitting streak; no doubt he'll start a new one tonight, hopefully with a few ribbies thrown in as well...according to the Globe Dustin Pedroia will get the night off tonight and Alex remember me? Cora will get a rare second half start...the wunderkind that is Jacoby Ellsbury will be in the lineup again, batting 2nd and playing LF...speaking of wunderkinds, Clay Buchholz was named the AL Player of the Week; wonder what for?

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Oh *bleepin* Cano: Stanks sweep Sox

New York 5, Sox 0
WP: Wang (16-6)
LP: Schilling (8-6)
HRs: NYY-Cano, 2 (16)

SUMMARY
The punchless Sox closed out this horrible series in the Bronx with a limp performance in another demoralizing loss. For the second game in a row Boston did not register a hit through the first five innings, and little Robbie Cano provided all the offense New York would need with a pair of solo home runs off Curt Schilling.

#1 STUNNER Cano 2-3, 2R, 2BI, 2HR
The solid second sacker led off the third & fifth innings with near-identical opposite field homers to left center, the first one popping off the top of the wall and the second landing just a few feet further, but each one packed the punch of a blow from Chuck Liddell.

PAN's FAUN the whole Boston ballclub
You can't lay the blame for this putrid performance on just one player--every member of the team had a hand in producing (another) one of the most embarrassing series in Sox/Stanks history.

RECAP
Remember when I stated earlier that things could most definitely get worse for the Sox in this series finale?

Guess what?

They most certainly did.

In a three game series that eerily parallelled the infamous five-game Boston Massacre II of last August, the Red Sox rolled over like Mike Vick's cousin and played three terrible, uninspiring, unemotional baseball games and in the process invited every bit of incisive scrutiny that is sure to come their way in the coming weeks.

That's what happens when a team that had just scored a record amount of runs in a four game series comes into New York for a potential put-away series with the reeling Stanks, manages just 3 runs and 13 hits in three games, and sees all three of its best starting pitchers get tooled by the much-maligned New York staff.

The only real differences between 2006's weekend to forget and this year's mid-week meltdown is the amount of games, both series length (5-3) and in the standings.

In '06 Boston led New York by 3 1/2 games going into that series, then saw that advantage morph into a 1 1/2 game deficit when the dust settled around the Commonwealth.

But this year the Sox sat on an eight-game bulge entering this one, and the short series ensured there would be no changes atop the AL East leader board when it was over, sweep or no.

We'll call it the Mini Massacre, 2007.

An overcast day in the Apple mirrored Boston's play and the mood of its Nation as the players took the field for the first midweek non-holiday day game in the Rivalry since ...(are you ready for it?)...the Bucky Dent Game, Oct 2nd of 1978.

You can thank Michael bleepin Kay for that tasty nugget.

The sweep was nearly a foregone conclusion when the pitching matchups were announced: Boston would send its battle-scarred soldier Curt Schilling, still recovering from a shoulder injury he may never shake, out to compete with the cornerstone of the next generation New York pitching staff, Chien Ming Wang.

Although Schill (7IP, 6H, 2ER, 1BB, 4K, 2HR) certainly pitched admirably, holding the potent New York lineup at bay save for one pesky second baseman, in a game like this, with a big series and personal & team pride on the line, allowing a pair of home runs to a light-hitting middle infielder just isn't gonna cut it.

He almost needed to, say, hold the other team hitless for like six innings, like he did in Oakland so many moons ago and the last two Stankee starters would do in consecutive games.

That's right after racking up 52 hits in four games against the White Sox, or roughly 1 /1/2 hits per inning, Boston batters were held hitless in the fist six frames of each of the last two games, and only managed to record a hit in 10 of the 36 innings played in the series.

Never led. Tied twice. Trailed in 33 of 36 innings.

Much like the last two games the way this one started out had all the earmarks of another heartbreaker.

While Wang (7IP, 1H, 4BB, 5K) set Boston down in order in the first including Papi swinging at strike three to end it, Derek Jeter (4-4, R) signaled the call to arms when he muscled a one-out single to center field in the bottom of the inning.

Schill would get out of the inning by striking out Bobby Abreu and A-Rod, but when Jason Giambi prevented a couple of runners from getting on base by channelling J.T Snow in the second, the proceedings quickly took an ominous turn.

Youk, batting in Manny's four spot, led off the inning with a walk, bringing up Boston's most consistent, clutch hitter this season, Mike Lowell.

But Wang got Mike to ground out sharply to Rodriguez, who flipped to Cano to get Youk at second, then Cano flipped to first to try and turn the twin killing.

Cano's throw went wide of the bag but Giambi laid his body prone to the ground while keeping his foot touching first base and managed to stretch for the out, bringing a rousing ovation from the crowd and gushing praise for Michael someone please hit me in the face with a shovel Kay:

"Jason Giambi, all leather and grace these last two days...his glove is a many splendid thing"

Take that however you will.

Three pitches later Boston's whipping boy J.D. Drew grounded to short, and this time Jete's throw sailed wide right of first, so Giambi snagged it out of midair and applied a swipe tag to Drew as he ran by.

I guess getting let off the hook by Bud Selig after admitting he used 'roids has got him playing like a kid again.

Wang worked around a leadoff walk to Tek in the third, but in the bottom of the inning Schilling would make the first of his two mistakes to Cano on the day, as he hit the first pitch he saw from Schilling off the top of the outfield wall for the first run of the game and the first nail in the Red Sox coffin.

Melky Cabrera and Jeter followed with singles in the inning but Schilling held the fort, and while Boston kept getting men on base via the walk they couldn't get any kind of rally going against the stingy Wang.

In the fifth inning Cano repeated his performance from the third, this time taking Schill's third offering and planting it over the wall in nearly the same exact spot as the first one, and even though the score was only 2-0 in the 5th, it might as well have been 200-0 the way Boston was playing in this one.

A wacky seventh inning brought Boston its first hit of the game but also symbolized the three days of frustration that team has suffered through this week.

Youkilis (0-1, 3BB) led off the inning with a grounder to Jeter who again threw wide right of first, but this time Giambi couldn't make the tag as Youk ducked under his glove, and when Lowell followed with a single to right the Sox had their first real threat of the day and a chance to salvage a game.

Either that or they could fold quicker than a Tarantino double feature and implode faster than the Kingdome.

Drew, who has really taken the J.D. Boo thing to a ho nuva level with his pitiful performance in this series, steeped in against Wang and on a 2-2 count hit a sharp grounder to A-Rod, who fumbled for a moment, lunged for Youk as he ran by and then fired to first to get Drew.

After initially calling Youk safe despite a healthy swerve to avoid old Blue Lips' tag, Torre came out and got the blue shirts to converge and discuss whether or not Youkilis had run out of the baseline during his second dodging move of the inning.

No sooner did I turn to my son and say they're gonna rule him out and Tito is going to come out and get ejected did the ump give the close fisted 'out' signal, Tito ran out on the field, and after a few minutes of warming up, got tossed amid a flurry of "F"-bombs.

Well, I said, there's no way this can get any worse, right?

C'mon, you know better than that.

Joba Chamberlain, a.k.a The Second Coming in New York, came in and pitched a scoreless eighth, although Pedroia did lace a two-out double off him, and then New York piled on the the bottom of the inning as millions of TV sets across the nation flicked off simultaneously.

Hideki Okajima, who hadn't pitched since Game 1 of last Friday's doubleheader in Chicago, got Demon (0-4) to fly out to start the frame, but then Jeter dropped his fourth hit of the day into center, setting up the final bit of embarrassment for Boston before they got out of dodge.

Abreu worked a lengthy at bat around numerous pickoff throws to first, then as jetr took off Abreu drove a double into deep center to score the Stankees' captain all the way from first to make for the ever popular insurance run, but still the worst was yet to come.

Rodrguez was intentionally walked, and with Matsui at the plate Torre got aggressive and had both runners steal. Varitek's throw handcuffed Lowell and trickled down the left field line, and as Abreu and A-Rod raced around to score, I clicked the TV off and went out to pull some weeds and beckon heat exhaustion rather than watch another second of this steaming pile of crap of a series.

Later I learned that Chamberlain indoctrinated himself into the Hall of Hate by throwing two consecutive pitches over Youk's bald dome, earning him an immediate ejection, but what did it matter?

Boston just got punked worse than any Ashton Kutcher D-lister and now must fight to keep its division lead with the entire baseball world waiting for them to cave in.

It's gonna be a long two weeks before the rematch at Fenway.

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BoSox complete DH sweep with annihilation of Chisox

Boston 10, Chicago 1
WP: Schilling (8-5)
LP: Danks (6-12)
HRs: Papi, 2 (23), Youk (13); CHI-Uribe (14)

"Sure, kid. And have one for your 10th, too, in case I forget"

SUMMARY
Boston put a bow on a banner day in the Windy City as Curt Schilling turned in his best performance since returning from the DL and the offense exploded again, propelled by Papi's two homers, another pair of ribbies from Mike Lowell, and a mammoth homer by Kevin Youkilis that put this one out of reach.

#1 STUNNER Ortiz 4-5, 3R, 3BI, 2HRs
The big man is starting to resemble his clutch, 2004 self as he mashed a pair of home runs for just the third time this season and added a pair of shift-busting singles to prove that he's not just a one-dimensional hitter.

PAN's FAUN(s) J. Danks & G. Floyd 7IP, 9H, 9ER, 5BB, 3HRs
The first two Chicago pitchers were like bad & badder; first Danks allowed 5 earned runs in 3 1/3, then Gavin Floyd "relieved" him and gave up 4 earned in 3 2/3 to make sure the Pale Hose would have no shot at coming back in this one.

RECAP
Talk about a sweet end to a LONG day.

After suffering through rain delays, a postponement, threats of rain delays and postponements, and a four-hour marathon opening game in this series, Boston put to rest early any doubts as to the outcome of this one as they ripped the sorry ChiSox pitching staff en route to a dominating doubleheader sweep.

But unlike the opener, Boston received excellent starting pitching that made all the extra runs totally unnecessary.

Unnecessary, but fun as fucking hell!

Curt Schilling (6IP, 3H, 1ER, 1BB, 3K) turned in his best performance since his 1-hit gem in late June, putting together six quality innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball, his only blemish coming on a 1-0 pitch to Juan Uribe with one out in the second that the beefy (ahem) shortstop tagged for a solo homer.

Other than that and a two-out double by Darren Erstad in the first inning, Schill was nearly untouchable, mixing his pitches nicely and exhibiting great control of the strike zone.

Following those two hits Curt allowed just one baserunner over the next four innings, ringing up 12 straight Chicago batters at one point before allowing a walk to Erstad with two outs in the 6th. He exited after getting the the next batter out having thrown an economical 98 pitches, a remarkable 69 for strikes.

But the story of this game has to be the offense, which after a measly 1-run showing in the finale in Tampa Bay, was bombarded with the questions of "why can't you guys get a big hit in the clutch?"

The Boston batters laid that question to rest-temporarily-today with an offensive output to rival the Texas Rangers.

After racking up 15 hits and 11 runs in the opener, Boston ripped another 13 base knocks to go along with the 10 runs in the nightcap, and the best part about it was the key to Red Sox postseason glory was back to his old self again.

Dustin Pedroia worked a leadoff walk to open the 4th, and then David Ortiz wasted no time in putting this long day behind him; one pitch after Pedroia trotted to first, Papi unloaded on a John Danks offering for a two-run shot to left field that quickly put Schill & the Sox ahead, 2-1.

But the Boston boys weren't done.

Manny Ramirez (1-3, 2R) followed that blast with a hard single to center, then Mike Lowell, the Sox RBI leader, added to his total with a long double to the left center field gap that scored Manny all the way from first and fueled the fire of a big inning.

Danks (3.1IP, 5H, 5R, 2BB, HR), who has lost his last six starts, managed to retire Youk on a pop out (better watch out, bat rack!), but then Bobby Kielty walked on five pitches and Coco Crisp followed with a booming double to left to drive Lowell in and push the lead to 4-1 Sox.

That shot wound up being the last pitch by Danks on the night, as short leash Ozzie Guillen yanked the guy who has allowed at least 5 earned runs in 4 of his last 5 starts, with 7 homers thrown in during that time.

Too bad his replacement fared no better.

Gavin Floyd, who sounds like a 1930's film star, came in and immediately surrendered a solid single to right by Kevin Cash to drive in Kielty, and the new BoSox backstop joined the fun with his first hit & RBI as a member of the club.

Floyd (3.2IP, 4H, 4ER, 3BB, 1K, 2HR) would escape further damage in that inning, but before he knew it the Boston batters were bashing him again in the 5th, and it started with another dose of Big Papi.

After the game Ortiz admitted he was eager to get home to the hotel after an extremely long day at the park, so he "was swinging at the first pitch every time."

Hey, whatever works, big fella.

Papi swung hard at the first pitch of the 5th from Floyd, and the ball travelled a long way, high and deep to left center field for a towering solo homer that put the Sox up 6-1 and paved the way for the onslaught to follow.

A rattled Floyd responded by walking Manny and Lowell (2-4, 2R, RBI), then Kevin Youkilis launched the first pitch he saw deep into the seats in left for a soul-crushing 3-run bomb that made the score 9-1 and emptied the remaining ChiSox fans from US Cell field faster than you can say "Cubbies all the way."

Things quieted down from there, with the Sox batters spent from running around the bases all day & night and Ozzie tired of changing pitchers as often as he swears, but Boston would put the finishing touches on the scoring binge in the 9th.

And whaddaya know, Papi was the one who started the rally again.

It took three pitches this time for Ortiz to bust an opposite-field single to left off someone named Matt Thornton, and then Eric Hinske, who replaced Manny in the field, roped a double to right to set up a 2nd & 3rd, no out situation.

Ozzie must have cussed, because he went to his pen for for former closer Mike MacDougal, but Mike Lowell treated the ex-All Star like he does everyone else, driving a stinging single up the middle to plate Boston's 10th run of the night on the third baseman's 90th ribbie of the season.

Even an appearance by Eric Gagne in the 9th couldn't get the Nation down tonight (after all, he couldn't blow this lead, could he?), and the embattled reliever got out of the game (after allowing a two-out single) by striking out Uribe to put a cap on this offensive affair.

And so a long day turned into a festive night, and the Sox have plenty of reasons to celebrate after bludgeoning the Chisox for nearly seven hours:

1. they will gain at least a game on New York, if not 1 1/2
2. Curt Schilling looks like he's returning to form just in time
3. the offense is clicking on all cylinders, especially with the real Big Papi back
4. they have until tomorrow afternoon before they have to do it all over again

That's it for now. Everyone take a breather, regroup, and we'll see if Wakefield can keep the momentum going tomorrow afternoon on FOX.

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Game Preview: BoSox @ ChiSox GM2 (today!)

Schilling (7-5, 4.25) vs. Danks (6-11, 5.30)
US Cellular Field 811EST

Wow, seems like I just got done wrapping up the last game.

Oh, that's because I did, literally just minutes ago, and here we are just about 20 minutes from starting Game 2 of this delayed double header in Chitown.

As the teams try and recover from that 4-hour, 24-hit, 14-run marathon of an opening game, us bloggers will try and remember what game we are writing about and what's on tap for the next game.

The one thing I'm sure of is that Curt Schilling will be trying to put the inconsistent ways that have plagued him since his return from the DL behind him when he takes the mound for his 4th post-injury start.

In the other three he has allowed 22 hits and 9 earned runs in 18 innings of work (4.50ERA), and although he has not walked a batter, he has apparently lost some velocity from his fastball, forcing him into some sticky situations.

At least his mound opponent has been equally erratic. John Danks has been shelled in his last 4 starts, allowing 27 hits and 18 runs over 19.1 innings, and surrendering 6 home runs during that stretch.

So the sox have a decnt shot at a sweep if the rains hold off and Schill holds up.

If not at least the Pats are on CBS tonight, so the PIP will be busy either way, and if Schill gets shelled, it'll be time to play "Name that patriot" as the scrubs compete for jobs late in that contest.

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Sox Drawer: Schill a Ray?

Schilling admits on EEI that he wouldn't mind playing for the Rays

I don't Photoshop, but pretend I do and picture Curt grabbing his tush while wearing the home white ,blue & yellow of next year's Tampa Bay Tarpons team.

I heard about this interview yesterday, read the story on the Globe, but still had to hear the words for myself to believe it was true.

So I went to the EEI vault.

Sure enough, during his weekly interview on the Dennis & Callahan show, Schill was asked by Gerry Callahan a few general questions about the Tampa Bay team, and before long the talk veered into the possibility of Curt wearing the (fill in the color) uniform of the Tampa Bay Rays, or Tarpons, or whatever they might be called next year.

Here are some of the more notable tidbits:

-- "I love the team. I think they've got a ton of talent. With Kazmir, Shields and Jackson, I love the thought of that staff growing up together."

-- "You wonder who is the everyday presence on that club that leads..there's gotta be some guys with some presence to push those guys along"

When pressed on whether he would want to play 81 games in the Trop, he responded:

-- "That doesn't bother me. I love Tampa, love the area...I don't mind that. There's something to be said for knowing your going to play every day...and knowing it's literally gonna be 72 degrees at game time" (amen, Schill, especially when it's 95 and wet outside)

That led Gerry to drop the big question: "so you'd consider being a part of that (mentoring the young pitching staff) at some point?"

--"...it's one of those situations you'd certainly look at...if circumstances were (to) happen...I'd love nothing more than to finish my career working on a pitching staff where I would know that there were young guys that were gonna be positively impacted by my being around when I was gone."

And there you have it. Straight from the mad blogger's mouth to my ears. If the Sox don't want to fork over the dough to retain the aging ace for next season, he would actually consider ending his career here in Tampa Bay.

Wow.

Mind you this stuff has been said before, by other marquee players such as St. Pete native Gary Sheffield, and more recently Judas Demon expressed similar sentiments in some offhanded comments last weekend.

But this is huge. A two-time World Series champ, co-WS MVP and the man who brought a championship to Beantown residing in the House that Monster Truck pulls built, putting the finish touches on a stellar career by mentoring the young studs in the Rays system.

Pardon me while I check into the prices of a mini-plan.

Paps sets new mark for Boston closers

By recording his 30th save last night against the Rays, Jonathan papelbon did soemthing no pitcher in the long & storied history of the Boston Red Sox franchise had done: register back-to-back 30 save seasons.

That's right neither Mark Clear nor Steamer Stanley, not book fodder Flash Gordon nor the insufferable Keith Foulke (you) had ever accomplished what Ppas did last night.

And the fact that he did so by getting four outs, three by way of strikeout, had to make the feat that much sweeter.

Hats off to a true closer in every sense of the word, and say another prayer that he decided to rerun to the pen this season.

Halos spank Stanks 18-9 behind Garret Anderson's 10 ribbies

Had to mention this beaut of a game that ended late last night on the West Coast.

The Angels, a team Boston has come to know far to well these last few weeks, absolutely bludgeoned the Stankees last night in Anaheim, winning by a score of 18-9, a number that was even greater until the Stanks scored 4 in the 9th.

But put aside the absolute ass kicking the Angels inflicted on New York, and the fact that LA of A now owns a 6-2 mark against the Bronx Bummers this season, but the Stankee pitching staff allowed one man to drive in 10 runs singlehandedly.

Garret Anderson, who was deemed washed up and ready to be replaced in an ESPN.com piece a few days ago, slammed two homers including a grand slam and drove in an Agel-record 10 runs in the win.

I have nothing more to say.

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That's more like it: Papi's slam leads to rout of Angels

Sox 10, Angels 5
WP: Schilling (7-5)
LP: Weaver (8-6)
HRs: BOS-Papi (21); LAA- Figgins (3), Guerrero (19)

Excuse me, Mr. Ortiz, your Cadillac is waiting.

SUMMARY
Shut out for four innings by Jered Weaver, Boston exploded for six runs in the 5th, highlighted by David Ortiz' mammoth grand slam, then tacked on four more in the 8th to defeat the Angles and give Curt Schilling his first win since June 7th.

# 1 STUNNER Ortiz 1-3, 2R, 4BI, 2BB, GS
His blast off Weaver was one of the longest homers I've ever seen Papi hit at Fenway, landing 3/4 of the way up the right field stands; it was so high & deep he had to take a minute to admire it, an act that Weaver didn't appreciate too much.

Next time don't groove a fastball to Ortiz with the sacks packed, jackass!

PAN's FAUN Weaver 4.1IP, 8H, 6ER, 1BB, 5K
Speaking of said donkey, the guy was cruising with a 5-0 lead until he suffered a Gagne-esque meltdown in the 6th. Six hits and six runs later he was flinging his glove into the bench like his teammate John Lackey did yesterday after getting torched for a sixer. Temper, tempers.

RECAP
I think it's safe to say the Big Man has got his mojo back.

Yesterday David Ortiz had a day worthy of, well, David Ortiz, circa 2003-2006, when he launched a 2-run homer of John Lackey in the 1st inning of Game 1 of the doubleheader, then stroked a 2-run double in the 8th inning of the nightcap which tied the game and gave Boston new life in the contest.

But those two clutch hits were mere appetizers to what he had in store for RSN and his buddies on the Angels roster tonight, although I think it's safe to say that his moon shot grand slam earned him at least one enemy in the L.A. clubhouse.

Boston bounced back from its demoralizing loss (i.e. latest collapse by its newest bullpen addition) last night and climbed off the mat to burn the Halos again, and this time Tito stuck with Papelbon to close it out even though the Sox erased the save opportunity with the 4-run 8th.

Ironic because this was the type of game Francona should've brought Gagne into, and he should have used Paps to save that crucial Game 2 last night.

Ah well, it's all water under the Neponset bridge now.

One thing's for sure is that Curt Schilling owes Ortiz a steak dinner this evening, because until Papi's blast Schill was giving Sox fans reason to head for the razor blade collection tomorrow.

I came in to the contest late because the fam & I were at my buddy Michael's house "celebrating" his 49th birthday while the kiddies depleted the water level in his pool. By the time I jumped in it was the bottom of the 3rd inning and Boston was already trailing 4-0, so needless to say I knew Schill was not pitching well.

Thanks to GameCast and NESN highlights I soon learned that Schill (6IP, 8H, 5ER, 0BB, 3K, 2HR) surrendered a solo run in the first on a double by OC, a single by Vladdy and an RBI fielder's choice by Garret Anderson, then coughed up three runs in the next frame on an RBI single by Reggie Willits and a 2-run homer from Chone Figgins.

Chone Figgins?! He of the 25 homers in 5+ major league seasons?!

To make matters worse I jumped in right in the middle of another stymied Sox rally, as Cora singled and Lugo doubled with one out, only to be left stranded when Youk & Papi followed with fly outs to end the threat.

Other than that blip Weaver was cruising, holding Boston to just three base runners through four innings, and when Guerrero stroked a low splitter from Schilling over the Wall like he was practicing for the Deutsche Bank Championship, I had the feeling I would have been better off had I missed this whole game.

Luckily, like any true diehard (with nothing else to do and recovering from a hot day poolside), I stuck around for more, and thankfully Boston & Big Papi made it worth the wait.

In the bottom of the 5th, not long after Vlad's golf shot, the Sox batters decided they'd seen enough of Weaver and quickly went to work on exorcising him from the game.

Eric Hinske led off the fatal frame with a broken bat dribbler to no man's land in the infield and was safe at first, and three pitches later Coco hit a towering shot to right that hit off the bullpen wall for a long double, and Boston had men at second & third with no outs.

After getting ahead of Alex Cora 0-2, Weaver plunked the second baseman on the back foot to load the bases, and when Julio Lugo (2-4, R, 2BI) followed with a hard liner off the mound that went in to center field for a two-run single, the game was starting to resemble last night's affair, pre-Gagne.

Because the fun had just begun.

Kevin Youkilis wasted no time joining the action when he drove a 1-0 pitch from Weaver into left to re-load the bases, and then Ortiz stepped up to deliver the main course of the evening.

To say that Papi was sitting on a fastball would be akin to saying Youk gets upset when he strikes out, for it seemed as soon as the ball left Weaver's hand Papi launched it into an orbit not since reached in the long history of Fenway Park.

We're still awaiting reports on how many UFO sightings were called in around the Fenway area last night

By the time the ball landed Ortiz was still jogging to first base in full-blown Manny mode, admiring his handiwork like an artist marvelling over his latest masterpiece, and the sight of the mulletted Weaver trying to glare down Big Papi as he rounded the bases only made the moment more special.

You mess with the bull and you get the horns, son, and Boston's biggest steer just stuck a pair of pointy ones straight up your ass.

After a Drew single knocked Weaver out of the game, Boston loaded the bases for the third time in the inning but couldn't push another run across, and the question became "Could Schill & the pen hold onto this lead the offense worked so hard to acquire?"

Fortunately the answer was yes as Curt came out for the 6th and retired the side in order, then Mike Timlin and Hideki Okajima followed with a pair of scoreless innings to set up a save situation and a measure of redemption for Papelbon and the Sox in the 9th.

Except the offense had other plans, like teeing off on Angels relievers Justin Speier and Greg Jones in the 8th.

Boston scored four runs in the inning on three hits and three walks and a wild pitch, the big blow a 2-run double to deep right center by Manny, who up to that point had been 0-4 with four swinging strikeouts on the night.

"Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom..." (Redemption Song for the Marley-impaired.)

By the time the dust settled the score was 10-5, and since Paps had already gone through his warmups, and possibly with the memories of last night still lingering in his bald dome, Tito called for his closer to end this comeback right.

Three batters later the bullpen's main man had done just that, finishing it off with a strikeout of the pesky Willits with a filthy slider after he fouled off four straight pitches, as if to say to Gagne "see, do it like this around here and they'll love you"

And if you hit monstrous homers like David Ortiz, everyone will love you, too.

Except the opposing pitcher.

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