CURT SCHILLING

THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
Schilling sparkles in Sox debut

April 6, 2004 ... In their Sox debuts, Schilling manhandled the Orioles for six innings before Foulke rebounded from a disastrous spring training to cap three innings of perfection from the bullpen by pitching a dazzling ninth for his first Boston save. The prized right-handers counterbalanced a struggling offense and helped power the Sox past the O's, 4-1, before 35,355 at Camden Yards for Francona's inaugural win in a Boston uniform.

The victory came with a price as Manny Ramirez left the game with a bruised right quadriceps and Kevin Millar was ushered away with a bloody nose after colliding with Johnny "Crash" Damon. But neither injury was considered serious, which also warmed some hearts.

Even Schilling could take a measure of relief in the afterglow. He had prepared for the moment for months, laboring with Nomar Garciaparra in a boot-camp training program in Arizona, spending seven weeks refining his pitching in Florida, hunching for countless hours over computers devising an intricate game plan to torment the Birds. Then he did it, overcoming an unusual level of personal anxiety in his debut and stifling the O's on six hits and a walk over six innings. Schilling surrendered only a run before he grudgingly accepted Francona's edict that throwing 108 pitches was enough for one day.

The secret of Schilling's success was keeping the Orioles on the defensive. He threw first-pitch strikes to the first 10 batters he faced and 18 of 24 overall. But he indicated he was most pleased for Foulke, who had generated concern throughout the ranks of fans and Sox execs alike by struggling badly in spring training. All Foulke did after posting a 15.00 ERA in the exhibition season and looking almost ordinary was suddenly regain the stuff that made him the league's top closer last year with the A's.

After Alan Embree retired the Orioles in order in the seventh and Mike Timlin followed suit in the eighth, Foulke needed only nine pitches to subdue the Birds in the ninth. He finished by catching Jay Gibbons flailing at a split-finger fastball for the game's last strike.

Good thing he and the rest of the pitching staff got to it because the Sox mustered only five hits off Baltimore starter Eric DuBose and a pair of relievers. Other than a solo homer by Millar in the fourth inning, the Sox managed only four singles, though they were patient enough to also draw eight walks. Still, they went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position after going 1 for 8 in Game 1 in the same situations.

To his credit, Damon helped for a second straight game to drive up the pitch count and knock out the Baltimore starter. In the first two games, the Oriole starters lasted a combined 11 1/3 innings while throwing a total of 219 pitches.