Schilling Does His Job, Even in a Loss
I am a huge fan of Curt Schilling. Granted, I’ve gotten a little sick of hearing him talk in the past year or so, but lets be honest - as a baseball player and especially in his role as a team leader, there are none like him. He is as dedicated as anyone can be, puts in countless hours researching the teams he is pitching against, and always has a solid game plan. This is why he is still effective today, even if he is 40 years old.
Last night, in spite of all his preparation, the Yankees hit him and hit him hard. He gave up runs in the first 4 innings and the game was mostly out of reach the entire night. It looked like he wasn’t even going to make it out of the third inning for a while, and even Don and Jerry were talking about how unlikely it was that he would be around in the 6th or 7th inning today. But Schill got a double play when he needed it in the third, escaped the inning, and made Kyle Snyder sit down in the bullpen, at least for a little while.
Yes, that’s right, in spite of the fact that he wasn’t locating his pitches all that effectively and in spite of the fact that he gave up 5 runs before making his 7th out, he still made it through 6 innings. It still almost worked out to be a quality start, and at the very least, kept the Sox somewhat in the game. Unfortunately, Andy Pettite was on and the Sox once again couldn’t hit a lefty to save their lives.
But still, Schilling gave the team 6 innings from the starting pitching which can be cited as at least one of the main reasons the Sox are winning so many games lately. The bullpen, especially with an off day today, can remain rested and ready. At 40, Curt Schilling isn’t going to be ‘on’ every night, especially when facing a relentless lineup like the Yankees. But being the veteran he is, he still managed to give the Sox 6 innings (the last 2 being scoreless!). He did it with 93 pitches, and if the game were closer, may have been sent out for the 7th as well. Look out Cleveland, as they will face Schilling for his next start next week.
Stumble it!