Pitcher at the ready

HOUSTON -- All around him in the visitors' clubhouse here, the best players in the American League were in various stages of dress, preparing for the 75th All-Star Game still a few hours away.

Curt Schilling was already in uniform, even though the Red Sox pitcher had eliminated any chance of playing last week, when he called in his regrets to AL manager Joe Torre to give his ailing right ankle additional rest. But as prudent as that decision was, in his view, he still admitted that it was going to be hard just to be a spectator.

"Oh, God, you have no idea," he said. "I'm only lucky that I told them [he wasn't playing] right away. A night's sleep, I'm not sure what I would have done. But this was the best decision."

The other Red Sox All-Stars, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, did see action last night, each blasting a home run. Schilling repeated that his first obligation was to his Sox teammates, and with the All-Star break the best and -- short of a stint on the disabled list -- the only time he could take an extended respite, he elected not to play. He said Craig Friedman, one of his trainers from the Athletes Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz., has been with him since last Friday, putting him through an extensive program of therapy, medication, and rest for the bone bruise, which has plagued him all season.The goal, Schilling said, is to make his next start, scheduled for Sunday in Anaheim, without the need for an injection of the anesthetic Marcaine, which he has relied on to get him through his starts. Schilling, who threw 119 pitches in 5 1/3 innings in his last start, a no-decision last Thursday against Oakland, will have nine days of rest before his next start. He hopes he won't have to use Marcaine at all in the second half. Schilling, who went 11-4 with a 3.16 ERA before the break and was undefeated at Fenway (7-0), said historically he has been a strong second-half pitcher. "The best 40 innings I threw in 2001 came in October," Schilling said, referring to his spectacular postseason run with Arizona that culminated with the Diamondbacks winning the World Series. "And my arm feels as good as ever."

But he is disappointed with how well opposing teams have hit him in the later innings. After 90 pitches, opponents are batting .312 against him, though he notes that his late-inning meltdown against the Blue Jays in Toronto April 22, when he gave up a grand slam to Chris Gomez, have skewed the numbers.

He is optimistic, however, about the team's chances in the second half. Yes, he said, he spoke with Randy Johnson, the subject of numerous trade rumors, some involving the Sox, but said he didn't think the team needed to make a deal to win in the postseason.

"We scored, what, 80 runs in the last six days?" he said.

"That's the team they put together this winter, and I can't see any reason why we can't open quickly in the second half. We had a tumultuous first half, where it seemed we couldn't win back-to-back games for the longest time, but that's not going to happen in the second half. I don't think we have to [make a trade]. The team that's in place now can win. It comes down to us performing."