Shockingly, Schilling can't protect early Red Sox lead

By DAVE SCHEIBER
Published April 24, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Curt Schilling stood glumly by his locker Saturday night. There was little he could say to describe what he had just experienced.

"You saw it," he said. "I mean, I'm not sure there's much to add beyond what you saw."

What everyone, including the boisterous season-high crowd of 33,220, saw was an uncharacteristic meltdown by the hero of Boston's 2004 World Series championship. He failed to hold leads of 4-0 and 5-2 and allowed the Devil Rays to score a dramatic 6-5 victory.

Until Saturday, Schilling had enjoyed his trips to Tampa Bay as much as any spring-time tourist. He posted a 3-0 record at Tropicana Field with a 1.80 ERA. He also had a 5-2 career mark against the Rays with an ERA of 3.44. But Schilling is still showing the effects of ankle surgery in November.

He won his last outing, but it was an ugly 12-7 decision against Toronto in which he allowed 10 hits in five innings and gave up five runs (three earned). His numbers heading into Saturday still looked anything but typical for one of baseball's most feared pitchers: 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

And nothing about his performance at the Trop - nine hits in seven innings and six earned runs - provided any consolation.

"It was a pathetic display of pitching all around," he said. "I'm making every mistake I can make at all the wrong possible times - a 4-1 lead, a 5-2 lead, you name it," he continued.

One statistic told the story best. Before Saturday, the Red Sox were 19-0 in games that Schilling pitched and in which they scored five or more runs. But the magic ended Saturday as Alex Gonzalez gave the Rays hope with a two-run blast in the fifth to pull within 5-4, and Travis Lee's two-run double in the sixth put the game away.

Manager Terry Francona wasn't sounding alarm bells.

"It came down to two big mistakes," he said. "The ball to Gonzalez ... and the Travis Lee 0-and-2 (pitch) and got the ball not quite where he wanted. That's four runs and pretty much the ballgame."

"Believe me, I'd love to have vintage Curt Schilling every time he goes out there," he added. "He's trying to work his way back to being that guy right now. ... The one thing I fall back on is how well he competes. He'll keep battling and he'll figure it out."

Asked if he was confident that he'll work through his current woes, Schilling didn't even attempt to address the question.

"I don't look at it like that," he said. "It's easy to look from the outside in and say everything will be all right. When you're the guy going through it, you can't just assume it's going to be all right. You've got to find a way to make it all right."

[Last modified April 24, 2005, 01:03:20]