Milestone
Game 47: May 27, 2006
Devil Rays (21-29), 4
Red Sox (29-18), 6
L: Seth McClung (2-6)
W: Curt Schilling (8-2)
H: Keith Foulke (7)
S: Jonathan Papelbon (18)
Curt Schilling celebrated his 200th victory last night after turning in a seven inning start with a line of eight hits, four earned runs, no walks, and seven strikeouts. Past concerns of Schilling yielding too many homers have begun to dissipate; he hasn’t allowed a four-bagger since May 16th and the runs scored in this game were the result of doubles.
Most of the fans in attendance lingered long after the last out, after the final bars of “Dirty Water” wafted through the mild night air, to congratulate Schilling on his accomplishment. The right-handed pitcher did not disappoint; he emerged from the dugout to acknowledge the fans.
What the fans didn’t know was that Schilling had a few other milestones that day. During the drive to the ballpark, for the 2,000th time he had to admonish sons Gehrig (whose birthday was yesterday) and Garrison to stop fighting because someone would most certainly lose an eye. For the 100th time he had to warn daughter Gabriella (on whose birthday Schilling garnered his 199th win) not to spill her OPI “Goldilocks Rocks” nail polish on the leather seats of his Maserati. And for the 1,000th time, Schilling assured his wife Shonda that she was more attractive than Michelle Damon and Anna Benson combined.
The Devils Rays felt they were jobbed on two pivotal calls. Mark Loretta singled to right field in the second inning with Willie Harris and Kevin Youkilis on base and two out, scoring Harris. Youkilis saw that Devil Ray outfielder Greg Norton had bobbled the ball and broke for third. Aubrey Huff believed he tagged the proxy Red Sox left fielder for the final out of the inning. Instead, the inning continued with David Ortiz being intentionally walked to load the bases. Trot Nixon doubled to generate two RBIs and Ortiz crossed home on a wild pitch to Jason Varitek. Boston pulled ahead 5-2 and would not lose the lead for the rest of the game.
Huff was also part of a crucial call in the eighth. The Devil Ray third baseman checked his swing on a Keith Foulke pitch but the ball looked to be on its way past the infield. Alex Cora was playing deep enough to snare it and make a pirouetting throw to J.T. Snow. First base umpire Bruce Froemming called Huff out, immediately inciting first base coach George Hendrick and enticing Joe Maddon from the visitor’s dugout. Huff was ejected in the fray.
Youkilis proved his versatility further, adapting fairly well to his first start as a left fielder. Norton did score from second base in the second on a Josh Paul single; Youkilis’s throw was up the line and away from home. In the seventh he called off the infielders on a Josh Paul short fly, nabbing the ball on the run. Talk about uber-utilityman.
Foulke rebounded from last night’s incident with a perfect eighth inning, covering nicely for an ailing Mike Timlin. Jonathan Papelbon also pitched a perfect inning for his major league-leading 18th save.
