Varitek played his role perfectly

Curt Schilling is the leading man on the day he pitches. Virtually every camera shot is recording his every emotion. Between innings, the lens focuses on him in deep thought, or when he's muttering, capturing the intensity of an extraordinary competitor.

When he came out of the game with one out in the eighth inning last night, he received a standing ovation from an adoring Fenway crowd.

He's the star, but every show needs a director, producer, and foremost, a supporting actor.

Jason Varitek was all of those things in last night's 6-0 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In addition to calling Schilling's five-hit shutout over 7 1/3 innings, Varitek produced three of the six runs with a sizzling line-drive home run over the Sox' bullpen that landed more than a half-dozen rows into the stands off Tampa Bay righthander Paul Abbott, who pitched more than a respectable game himself.

Varitek also laced a single to right-center field in the seventh off reliever Travis Harper, driving in the Sox' third run.

At the end of the night there was no standing ovation for Varitek, who deserved one as much as anyone who took the field.

It was a great night for Varitek, who broke an 0-for-17 streak, which included a strikeout in his first at-bat. If there was a game that provided evidence the Red Sox need to re-sign their de facto team leader, it was this one. No catcher has the pressure of handling two of the very best pitchers in the game in Pedro Martinez and Schilling.

The only time he gets a breather is when Doug Mirabelli catches Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. If you think it's easy to catch two superstars, think again. Varitek smiles at the thought and says how enjoyable it is to be in that position.

"It's fun and challenging, it's a treat for me," the 32-year-old Varitek said. "I think it's an opportunity that I like. We've got five guys who are putting up quality stuff and that's pleasurable."

He is basically the quarterback for a staff that has not allowed an earned run in its last 23 innings. (The bullpen scoreless streak is at 26 1/3 innings.)

Last night, Varitek called all five of Schilling's pitches. He was aggressive in every situation; unafraid to put down any finger. Schilling, who shook him off three times, complimented the catcher, saying Varitek "called a great game.

" 'Tek, offensively, was the star of the game . . I shook him off three times, once he wouldn't let me shake him off. He's probably as good as anyone there is back there. Even though the time frame of being together has not been long, we do a lot of talking. I'm leaning more on Jason to throw more of what he thinks I should throw. And tonight was one of those games."

Varitek said he's "getting there" on understanding Schilling's mind-set. He thinks he'll have to go through the league with him once to see how he handles each situation before he's fully sure.

You won't find too many catchers today who not only prepare like Varitek, but then self-evaluate after the game. He felt he learned a lot from his last outing with Lowe, an 11-2 win over Toronto last Friday. He said because the Sox had a big lead, he and Lowe experimented. And that will help when the two form the battery tonight.

He felt he learned from Schilling's last start, too, the previous night against the Blue Jays, when Schilling surrendered a grand slam to Chris Gomez with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

He felt he learned a lot guiding Schilling out of a two-on, one-out jam in the first inning last night that surely could have changed the course of the game.

"I'm better today than I was a week ago with my vision and what I can see and what I can do," said Varitek, who also understands there will be times the offense will have to bail out the pitching staff. "I know this team is capable of scoring a lot of runs, and there will be times our pitchers will need us to do that, and there'll be times when we'll need the shutouts.

"I've always said it starts with pitching and defense and it works up the other way."

Some would also say "it" starts with Varitek and filters to the pitching staff and to the lineup. That "it" won't get him on camera too often, but everyone knows the show can't go on without him.