BOSTON—Curt Schilling came to Boston four years ago with the lone goal of helping the Red Sox win the World Series.
He might do it twice.
In what could be his final start in a Boston uniform, Schilling held the Rockies to one run over 5 1-3 innings in Game 2 of the Series on Thursday night to lead the Red Sox to a 2-1 victory over Colorado and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Schilling struck out four while allowing four hits and two walks and gave Boston a chance to sweep at Coors Field. Unless the Rockies can win twice at home to force a sixth game, Schilling has pitched his last game before he becomes eligible for free agency.
“I guarantee you, everybody’s as sick of hearing about it as I am,” said Schilling, who waved his cap to all corners of the ballpark as he left to a deafening ovation. “Whatever happens is going to happen. They know what I want, and they know I want to come back. We’re trying to win a World Series, so it makes it very, very easy not to even think about it.”
If he leaves, Schilling will have accomplished his professed goal and so much more: In four years, he has become a hero at Fenway Park and across the blogosphere, and a potential Hall of Famer.
The success is borne of a “will to make sure the score ends up in our favor,” said Terry Francona, who also managed Schilling with the Philadelphia Phillies. “I’ve been around him so long, I probably expect unfair things out of him. But that probably won’t stop.
“It’s a good feeling when he pitches. Whatever the situation, you know he’s prepared for it.”
Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon finished up for the Red Sox, allowing one hit over the final 3 2-3 to protect the one-run lead.
“This was the Pap-ajima show tonight,” Schilling said. “That was just phenomenal to watch. A 2-1 game in the fifth that ends up 2-1, with both of these offenses—that is a testament to how incredibly efficient and dominating these bullpens were.”
Okajima was the lesser-known Japanese pitcher the Red Sox signed over the offseason, an afterthought in the hubbub of Matsuzaka.m.ania. But he delivered scoreless innings for months at a time, helping bridge the gap between the starters and the closer.
“He’s very effective. He can speed you up, slow you down, he throws strikes, he’s got some deception,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. “He’s been a big part of their bullpen, a big part of their success over there.”
It was Okajima, not Daisuke Matsuzaka, who became the first Japanese-born pitcher to appear in the World Series. He struck out four in 2 1-3 hitless innings.
“Last year, I pitched in the Japanese World Series,” he said through a translator. “I have experience in big days like this. I had confidence out there.
And the Red Sox have confidence in Papelbon.
The Boston closer got the last four outs for his second straight save; he has yet to allow a run in his postseason career.
“It all started with Okajima coming out and doing what he did,” Papelbon said. I think that we all kind of just feed off of each other. That’s what we did tonight.”
With this start, Schilling’s career postseason record improved to 11-2; no pitcher with at least 10 decisions has a better record. Included among those wins were his famous bloody sock victories over the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004, on the way to Boston’s first World Series title in 86 years.
Schilling’s victory gives the Red Sox a chance to repeat the feat.
“He’s a competitor. He got the better of us,” Hurdle said. “He’s got as much experience as anyone pitching in the game right now.”
Schilling’s playoff prowess was just what the Red Sox needed at Thanksgiving in 2003 when they were fresh off the ALCS disaster at Yankee Stadium. General manager Theo Epstein and his staff flew to Schilling’s house in Arizona to persuade him to waive his no-trade clause and accept a lucrative contract extension in Boston.
They haggled over salaries. They pored over the numbers that showed Fenway Park wouldn’t be so bad for a flyball pitcher. And they threw in a few of the standard perks: a hotel suite on the road, an All-Star bonus, seats in a luxury suite for his family at home games when he starts.
But before signing the deal, Schilling got Epstein to throw in one more, unprecedented incentive: If the Red Sox won the World Series during his tenure, Schilling would get a $2 million bonus and the fourth year of his contract became guaranteed.
That year was this year.
During spring training, Schilling offered to come back for another season at his ’07 salary, but Epstein opted to see what was left in the 40-year-old right-hander’s arm. Schilling went 9-8 with a 3.87 ERA in the regular season, and followed it up with three wins in four postseason starts.
If he makes it back to the mound, another title will be on the line.
“He’s obviously a big-game pitcher for a reason,” Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. “(He) came out and gave a gutsy performance.”
