• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Red Sox fans fret over Schilling's poor start

Posted on: Friday, 26 August 2005, 10:52 CDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - Grumbling among Boston Red Sox fans is growing louder after Curt Schilling, the team's ace pitcher, was pounded in his eagerly-awaited return to the starting rotation.

The Boston Herald ran a column on Friday with the headline "Schill no thrill," echoing the concerns of Red Sox fans after Schilling allowed six earned runs over five innings to baseball's worst team, the Kansas City Royals.

"While no one expected him to hurl a shutout his first time out, getting bombed wasn't exactly factored into the equation," Boston Herald columnist Karen Guregian wrote. "Let's just say if that doesn't change, the Sox are in trouble."

Last year, Schilling played a crucial role in the Red Sox's first championship in 86 years, winning more than 20 games during the regular season and pitching valiantly in the playoffs despite an ankle injury.

It's been a different story this year.

After off-season surgery, Schilling struggled in the early part of the season before going on the injured list. He returned in a reliever's role and recorded nine saves as Boston's closer, but did not display dominating form.

With the playoffs drawing near and the Red Sox 2-1/2 games ahead of the New York Yankees, Schilling made his first start since April 23 on Thursday. He had good velocity on his pitches but Royals' batters made him pay for poor control.

"What Sox fans want to see more than anything -- Schilling retiring batters with the same ease he did in 2004 -- he could not reproduce," wrote Boston Globe columnist Gordon Edes.

To have Schilling at full strength could be even more important this year because the Red Sox cannot rely on Pedro Martinez, who joined the New York Mets as a free agent during the winter, to pick up the slack.

"The conventional thinking is that the Sox will not go deep into October without Schilling restored to the top of the rotation, and maybe that will be proven right," said Edes.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category