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AUBREY HUFF |
THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Sox come home and get beat by Tampa
August 9, 2004 ...
The Devil Rays took Schilling deep three times in a span of six batters over the fifth and sixth innings, knocking the ace out of the game before he'd retired a batter in the sixth.
Julio Lugo later hit a fourth home run off Terry Adams, one that turned the Pesky Pole into a giant tuning fork, and the Devil Rays coasted to an 8-3 win that left no one convinced that the Sox are about to win with the kind of regularity required of teams planning to play in October. The
team's 52d sellout of the season, 35,172, watched the Sox fall a game behind Anaheim in the wild-card race in a game in which neither David Ortiz, who was present, and Ramirez, who was sent home by manager Terry Francona, collected a hit. That's happened just eight times this season. The Sox
are 2-6 in those games.
Until last night, Schilling has been the exception. He was 7-0 in 11 starts at Fenway and 3-0 with a 1.16 ERA in three starts against the D-Rays, including a complete-game six-hitter just six days earlier in the Florida dome. But Schilling suddenly unraveled in the fifth, with a 1-0 lead and
the revamped Sox defense performing exactly as general manager Theo Epstein had envisioned. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera was upended by Rocco Baldelli's slide but still turned a double play that enabled Schilling to escape a bases-loaded jam in the first; first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz made a
sprawling stop of Aubrey Huff's smash in the third; and there was the added bonus of a diving catch by Kevin Millar, Ramirez's stand-in in left. Schilling had not allowed three home runs in a game in 23 starts dating back to Sept. 21, 2003, in Milwaukee, when he was still pitching for the
Arizona Diamondbacks. He'd allowed as many as two home runs only twice this season.
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JULIO LUGO |
The Devil Rays banged the ball all over the ancient yard - eight extra-base hits on a night when the breeze was negligible, and Cabrera and Mientkiewicz hearing scattered boos in the eighth, when Cabrera popped out and Mientkiewicz bounced into an inning-ending double
play.
For the third straight game, Manny Ramirez's name appeared on the original lineup card posted in the Red Sox clubhouse, but that lineup was discarded even before manager Terry Francona met with the media yesterday afternoon. Francona had received word from Ramirez that he would not be able
to play because of the flu.
An examination of Scott Williamson's swollen right arm confirmed fears that the reliever won't be coming back soon. According to information team doctor Bill Morgan relayed to the club's PR staff, Williamson has a forearm muscle strain - not the same elbow strain that landed him on the DL
last July 2. Williamson will not be able to undergo an MRI until the swelling subsides, which is expected to take a few days. |
