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HR #54 |
A SAD END TO A
RECORD SEASON
Schilling finishes
the season in style
September 26, 2006 ...
His cap was off as he crossed the first base line, waving it to a
crowd that first seemed slightly confused, but responded with the
standing ovation his manager had anticipated. Curt Schilling was done
for the night and, as Terry Francona later confirmed, for the season
so Francona allowed him one last walk to the mound, though with 101
pitches already thrown, he had no intention of leaving Schilling out
there for the eighth inning.
So,
Schilling headed back to the dugout with his job completed, his game back on
target after an unimpressive stretch that included a winless streak of six
weeks, and an injury to the latissimus dorsi muscle on his right side.
Backed by
David Ortiz's 54th home run and nine strikeouts of his own, one shy of his
season high, Schilling (15-7) proved his worth in front of an announced crowd of
36,134, both in controlling the Devil Rays in a 5-1 win and lowering his ERA to
3.97, after it had crept up above 4.00.
Back on Aug.
4, the day Schilling collected his 14th win of the season, it was not out of the
question that the rock of the Red Sox staff could make it to 20 wins for the
fourth time in his career and second time in Boston. He wasn't exactly pitching
his best but he had done enough to take wins in four of his last five starts.
And, for the Sox to make the postseason, he would have to keep it up. No
postseason beckons, leaving Schilling with only the golf in October that he
decried not that long ago. No chance at 20 wins, not with a streak that included
an 0-3 record in six starts after Aug. 4 and the injury that kept him out from
Aug. 30-Sept. 20. There was nothing but pride, a shot at win No. 207 of his
career, and the chance to go back in front of the Blue Jays for the
all-important second slot in the division.
Both
Schilling's splitter (which catcher Jason Varitek said he didn't master until
the second or third inning) and fastball were working on a perfect fall evening
in the Fens. And though Schilling walked more batters than he had in any start
this season (four), he got into trouble only in the first inning, when he gave
up the run. Carl Crawford walked and scored on a double by Greg Norton. Ty
Wigginton followed with a walk. But, with one of those nine strikeouts this one
swinging on a splitter Schilling erased Kevin Witt and Tampa Bay's best chance
for more offense.
Meanwhile,
turning violently on a ball on the inside part of the plate, Ortiz crushed No.
54 in the third inning to tie the game, moving him up to ninth on the list of
home run totals for a season in the American League. The Sox followed with four
runs in the fourth inning, on a Varitek double, an Eric Hinske double, an Alex
Cora triple, walks to Kevin Youkilis and Mark Loretta, and a single by Ortiz.
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