CURT SCHILLING

A POWERFUL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Curt Schilling strikes out 10 Indians

May 28, 2007 ... He got through seven innings, got a standing ovation, and got a chance to tip his cap to an appreciative crowd. Not a bad evening for Curt Schilling, especially considering a couple of recent starts that hadn't met his exacting standards.

And he wasn't the only one to get a roar from the 36,910 assembled at Fenway tonight.  So, too, did Kevin Youkilis, re-emerging from the dugout after the first inside-the-park home run since Trot Nixon's against the Yankees on July 15, 2005.

But on an evening when Schilling had clearly rediscovered his fastball or, rather, his split-fingered fastball, the night belonged to the starter.  Beginning the game with three swinging strikeouts, all on splitters, Schilling came back from three consecutive unimpressive starts, in which he had taken two no-decisions and his first loss since Opening Day, to lead the Red Sox past the Indians, 5-3.

With his manager advising anyone who asked that Schilling's problem was simply location, the right-hander made his location count, with swings and misses the result. Ten, to be exact, bettering his season high by three, and marking his 93d career game with double digits.

And with doubles being sprayed behind him, including three in succession, to right, center, and left, the Red Sox took the lead in the fourth. After Youkilis extended his hitting streak to 20 games with the double to right, the suddenly solid J.D. Drew followed with a double to left-center to score Youkilis. Mike Lowell got Drew home on his double to left. Though the Red Sox would load the bases with two outs, Julio Lugo missed on a cutter to end the threat.

Not that the Red Sox were done, adding a solo homer by Manny Ramirez in the fifth, the inside-the-park trot by Youkilis in the seventh, and an RBI from Lugo in the eighth. By the time Ramirez got a chance to look up at his drive, the ball was touching down in the second row of the Monster seats, just left of the Coke bottles, for the 478th home run of his career.

But that homer didn't provide the most drama (probably because it got out of the park too quickly), as that distinction went to Youkilis, who slammed an offering from Roberto Hernandez into the triangle in center field. When it bounced off the short wall adjacent to the 420-foot sign, Youkilis picked up his pace, rounded third, and scored standing as the ball was being relayed back to the infield.

Jonathan Papelbon walked David Dellucci to start the ninth, then gave up a single to Ryan Garko and a double by Josh Barfield that scored Dellucci. That left men on second and third and a two-run Sox lead with no outs. But Papelbon got Grady Sizemore to pop to third base, then in a bizarre moment, plate umpire Rick Reed first called Casey Blake hit by a pitch, then out on a swinging strikeout, even though the ball clearly bounced off either the bat or Blake's hand. It was ruled a dead ball swing and strikeout.  Papelbon finished off his 13th save with a 97-mile-per-hour fastball that Travis Hafner swung through.

Ortiz was left off the lineup card for the second straight game, a decision made on the team plane flying from Dallas to Boston Sunday night and reaffirmed when Ortiz arrived at the park yesterday.  Because it is particularly painful when Ortiz drives the ball, that could explain the lack of home runs over the last 15 games, none in his last 52 at-bats, though Ortiz has been hitting doubles at a rate far superior to last season, with 20 already. That, of course, leads to more running.

Manny Delcarmen was optioned to Pawtucket to make room for Josh Beckett on the roster. Beckett, who was placed on the disabled list May 19 (retroactive to May 14) with an avulsion on his right middle finger, is scheduled to pitch tonight  Manny Ramirez's home run was the 478th of his career, tying Jim Thome for 25th on the all-time list. He is five behind Alex Rodriguez. The Red Sox equaled a 1904 team record with their 34th straight win when scoring at least five runs. Twenty-seven of the wins have come this season.

Curt Schilling's 10-strikeout game was the 93d of his career, and his first since June 21, 2006, against Baltimore. It was the third for a Red Sox pitcher this season, the other two by Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Jon Lester is scheduled to start today for the PawSox. He'll be on an 80- to 85-pitch limit as he continues to try to make his way back from the forearm cramping that stalled his comeback.