Schilling to rehab for Pawtucket on Wednesday
PHILADELPHIA -- Memo to the Game of the Week folks at Fox: Crank up those Curt Schilling bloody sock promos. With any luck, you just might have Our Curt as your headliner when the Sox play the Orioles July 9 in Camden Yards. How convenient the game is scheduled for national television.
Schilling, who has not pitched in a game that counted since April 23, remained on track to return before the All-Star break, his simulated game going so well yesterday the Sox announced he will pitch for Triple A Pawtucket Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C., in a rehabilitation assignment.
Beyond that, no one is saying for certain, but given the effortless way he handled 84 pitches to Sox hitters Kevin Youkilis and Ramon Vazquez in yesterday's simulated game, his second in four days, it's hard to imagine he'll need more than a couple of rehab starts.
''It's going to take more than one [rehab] start, that's all I know," said Schilling. ''I'll go out Wednesday and go from there."
Manager Terry Francona said despite missing so much time, Schilling's arm strength is well beyond what it would be in spring training. That's why the plan is for Schilling to throw 75 to 80 pitches in Charlotte.
''Health-wise, he feels great," Francona said. ''Arm-wise, he's got arm strength. He throws another 50 to 60 pitches warming up, so he's got good arm strength. He's proven to us that he does look healthy, and he's going to pitch a little bit."
Schilling, who is recovering from a stress reaction above his surgically repaired right ankle, said the club probably needed more convincing of his progress than he did.
''I felt good, I felt smooth," he said. ''I threw my pitches. They've gotten sharper the last couple of days. I need to pitch. I need to get sharper. I need to pitch and stretch it out for them, probably more so than for me."
Home groan
Get past the 81 whiffs, and there's nothing more startling about Mark Bellhorn's performance this season than his home-road splits. On the road, Bellhorn is batting .280 in 36 games. At Fenway Park, Bellhorn is buried below the Mendoza line, his .162 average 86 percentage points below the .248 he hit at the Fens last season.
Bellhorn, who has not allowed his slump to affect his steady fielding, acknowledged yesterday he might be feeling the pressure to perform at home in front of fans who audibly groan after many of his strikeouts.
''I try not to, but maybe I do a little bit," said Bellhorn. ''It's easier to relax and play on the road. Subconsciously, it may bother me. On the road, there may be some ugliness, but I can usually find a way to block it out.
''The weirdest thing is that when you're not doing well, it's louder. When you're in the zone and locked in, you don't even hear it. But everybody, you hurt [when you get booed]. Maybe I just need one little streak going on the road, and carry it over back home."
Bronze medal
Johnny Damon was back in the starting lineup last night after resting his strained right shoulder Wednesday night. Damon singled in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and scored on Manny Ramírez's three-run home run. Damon said he spent the off-day Thursday in Atlantic City, ''bettering my tan." . . . Francona said his son, Nick, a lefthander who pitched at the University of Pennsylvania and was pitching for Bourne in the Cape Cod League, will need labrum surgery, likely jeopardizing his next college season. Francona was chiding himself for not being more sympathetic when his son said his arm was bothering him. ''I told him to suck it up," he said. ''Then they tell him he needs surgery." . . . Francona, who managed in Philadelphia from 1997-2000, when the Phillies played in dilapidated Veterans Stadium, praised the new ballpark. ''There's no garbage can in the office to catch water," he said, referring to his leaky office roof, ''and I haven't seen an animal yet." Animal, he added, as in rat . . . Ramírez's fifth-inning home run was the 407th of his career, tying him with Duke Snider for 38th on the all-time list. It also was Ramírez's 171st in a Sox uniform, giving him sole possession of 10th place on the team list . . . David Ortiz, the runaway leader in All-Star balloting, is batting .394 (13 for 33) in his last eight games with three home runs. Almost half of Ortiz's hits (41 of 84) have gone for extra bases . . . The Sox assured themselves of a winning record in interleague play. They're 10-6 with two games against the Phillies remaining . . . Tim Wakefield threw just 106 pitches, a big reason the game sped by in 2 hours 26 minutes . . . Doug Mirabelli was charged with two passed balls and also was caught trying to stretch his fifth-inning single into a double. His home run was his first since May 3 at Detroit . . . Hot prospect Anibal Sánchez threw another gem for Single A Wilmington, allowing just one hit in seven innings of a 2-1 win over Potomac Thursday night. The 21-year-old lefthander from Venezuela, who was a spring training invitee, lowered his ERA to 2.41. He's been named to the World team for the All-Star Futures Game.
