Schill Chills Yankees

Curt Schilling picked up his seventh victory (career #199) as he held the Yankees to five hits and one run over eight innings of work. The veteran righthander struck out 6 and walked none as he displayed vintage form in shutting down the Yankee offense. Schilling's record is now 7-2 and he lowered his ERA to 3.80 with his effort tonight. Johnny Damon overcame his 1 for 17 slump against the Red Sox with a two-out single in the third that scored Melky Cabrera.

However, the Sox came back in their half of the inning as the Sox offense handed the lead back to Schilling. David Ortiz drove in 2 runs with a single and Manny Ramirez smacked a 2 run shot to center field. The duo would strike again for one RBI each in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Red Sox were coasting to a 9-1 victory as Keith Foulke came on in the ninth. Despite giving up a lead-off single to pinch-hitter Kevin Reese, Foulke got Derek Jeter to fly out and induced a ground-out from Andy Phillips (also pinch-hitting). With two down and a runner on second, Alex Rodriguez crushed a Foulke pitch into the Monster seats. Jorge Posada followed with a solo shot into the bullpen and the score was now 9-4, Sox. After a Robinson Cano "double" (a fly to deep center that Willie Harris arguably misplayed), Bernie Williams drove in the fifth Yankee run. Although New York made an admirable run at another come-from-behind victory, Terence Long flied out to center to end the ballgame.

Lost in all the drama were equally solid performances from the Red Sox offense and defense. In the field, the Sox turned two great DPs that killed potential rallies and made a couple of difficult running catches in the outfield. Boston has committed only 14 errors in 42 games and still leads the American League in fielding percentage.

At the plate, 8 different players figured in the scoring, with Trot Nixon the only Boston hitter to not get on base at least once. Ortiz (2 for 4) and Ramirez (2 for 3) matched each other with 3 RBIs and 1 run each. Amazingly enough, Willie Harris even got into the act with an eighth inning RBI and was followed by an Alex Cora RBI, both off Yankee reliever Colter Bean.

The Red Sox opened up a 2.5 game lead over the Yankees and now lead the season series 4-1. Tim Wakefield and Jaret Wright will face each other tomorrow night in the second game of the series.

Burning questions...
Is there a more head's-up player than Alex Cora? I have to agree with Jerry Remy: this guy does at least one thing to help the team every time he plays. Tonight, he had a great night both on offense and defense. Cora went 3 for 4 with 1 RBI and 1 R and also displayed some slick glovework and good range at shortstop.

Is it my imagination, or do Papi and Manny finally seem to be heating up simultaneously?

With the Yankees in such sad shape, is it really proper to gloat over a win? Um...YES!!!

*wild cackling ensues*