RED SOX 6, RAYS 0: Curt Schilling, Boston hold AL's worst offense to sixth game below two runs.
By MARC TOPKIN
Published April 29, 2004
BOSTON - No matter what changes the Devil Rays make with their pitching staff, and some are coming, they are not going to win unless they score more.
They were blanked by Curt Schilling and the Red Sox on Wednesday 6-0, but that was a small part of the bigger story.
In their 18 games, the Rays have been shut out twice. They have scored fewer than two six times, fewer than three eight times and, amazingly, fewer than four 10 times.
"We'll just keep running them out there and hope they start swinging the bats," manager Lou Piniella said. "That's all we can do."
An erratic schedule and tough competition has been part of the equation, with the Rays facing an opponent's No.1 or No.2 starter in 11 games. They also have missed hitting coach Lee Elia, who has been out for two weeks for medical reasons.
But it is going to take considerable change to improve an offense that has the fewest runs in the league, 67, and is averaging 3.7 a game, a full run less than its pitchers are giving up.
"Schilling's pretty good, and that's part of the reason for it tonight, believe me," said Piniella, who had never seen the veteran right-hander pitch live. "He's fully capable of doing what he did, not only to our lineup but to better lineups than ours."
Schilling, facing the Rays for the first time since 1999, was impressive, scattering five hits over 71/3 innings, striking out eight and allowing only two runners past first.
"He was Curt Schilling tonight," Rays starter Paul Abbott said.
But it didn't have to be that way.
The Rays had a chance to grab the early lead when Rocco Baldelli reached on an infield single with one out in the first and Aubrey Huff ripped a ball that struck Schilling's right foot and caromed into rightfield.
It was a prime opportunity - men on first and third with one out and two of their top left-handed hitters coming up - but the Rays couldn't do anything with it. Robert Fick popped out to third and Tino Martinez struck out for the first of three times.
"You've go to take advantage of those because later on you're not going to get them," Carl Crawford said. "There's a very small chance you'll score a bunch of runs on a guy like that."
After that, they didn't get much: a two-out single by Toby Hall in the second, a two-out double by Julio Lugo in the fourth and a one-out single by Lugo in the seventh.
Rey Sanchez said Schilling was not that sharp, that he left some balls up the Rays were missing. Lugo said Schilling was very sharp, that he kept the Rays uncomfortable and offbalance.
Martinez said Schilling was somewhere in the middle.
"When you don't swing the bat well and the guy is pitching good, it's hard to say what it is," Martinez said. "You've got to give him credit a little bit. I know I didn't stick to my game plan. I was swinging at everything he threw up there. I had terrible at-bats."
Abbott kept the Rays in the game, working out of trouble and allowing only two runs through the first six innings. He left with two on in the seventh, and Travis Harper and Mark Hendrickson didn't do much to help, allowing the Sox to extend the lead.
For the Rays, it was a familiar result.
"Against a team like that you have to score runs," Sanchez said, "because you know they are going to."
