No relief for Schilling

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- With ''Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses blaring from the loudspeakers and the McCoy Stadium crowd erupting, Curt Schilling emerged from the bullpen door slowly, then jogged to the mound. He warmed up, walked around the mound, and kissed the cross around his neck.

He looked the part of a closer. But his results need -- and, Schilling said last night, will receive -- some work.

Schilling pitched the ninth and threw 14 pitches in his maiden bullpen voyage for the Pawtucket Red Sox, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on two hits and an error. He struck out two of the six batters he faced in a 7-3 loss to the Ottawa Lynx. It was Schilling's first step to moving to the bullpen with the Red Sox, a move Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced Wednesday.

Schilling possessed greater consistency on his fastball, which he threw 10 times, all between 88 and 92 miles per hour. He broke 90 seven times and also hurled four splitters, one for a strikeout. His final out came when he blew a letter-high, 90-m.p.h. heater by Tim Raines Jr.

But Schilling said he felt similar to his rehabilitation start Monday, and he'll need more minor league tuneups before returning to Boston. He will throw from Pawtucket's bullpen tomorrow and Sunday in Syracuse, N.Y.

''I don't even feel like I pitched tonight," said Schilling, who will fly out today to meet his teammates in Baltimore. ''I mean, I didn't pitch well. Throwing [14] pitches, not to diminish the feat, but it's nothing. It's just different."

Schilling revealed he initiated his move to the bullpen. When he arrived in Texas Monday night, he got the feeling Francona wanted to ask him about the role, but was hesitant.

''It kind of surprised me, because I think Tito knows me well enough that if there's something he wants me to do as far as the team goes, that I would do it," Schilling said. ''We talked about it. The thing that I looked at was if you move Mike Timlin to the back of the bullpen, our bullpen gets thinner. With Keith [Foulke] hurt and Matt [Mantei] hurt, it's been stretched thin enough as it is. To move somebody out of their role right now makes it an even tougher situation. This seemed the right thing for us to do as a club."

Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon expressed displeasure with Schilling taking the role as closer Wednesday, saying Schilling was ''too old" to close and would better serve the team starting.

''He's never done this before," Damon said, while campaigning for Mike Timlin as the closer.

While trying to diffuse the situation, Schilling might have taken a veiled jab at Damon.

''Contrary to popular belief, I have done this before," Schilling said.

When asked about Damon's comments, Schilling said, ''I don't deal with my teammates and manager through the media. You guys [the media] do a good enough job of that on your own."

Schilling did say he has spoken with members of the Red Sox about his new relief role.

''I've talked to some people, yeah," said Schilling. ''Just some private conversations I've had with different people."

Yesterday, Damon said he spoke with Francona and he's now on the same page as the manager. Still, he didn't back down from his original sentiment.

''Our team is a much better team if Schilling is that ace pitcher," Damon said. ''I'm not going to back down from that. Everyone knows how important he was to our team as a [starter]. That's what we want him as. We want him to be that No. 1 guy that he was for us last year, helped us get to the playoffs, helped us get past the Yankees, helped us win the World Series. I want Schilling as our No. 1 starter. Now, if it takes him going to the bullpen, we'll have to deal with it. It was definitely not a knock on him. We just want him to be a starter."

Schilling wants the same thing. But right now, he reasons, coming out of the bullpen is best.

''I'd rather be starting," Schilling. ''I'd rather be out there every fifth day and doing what they're paying me to do. I can't do that right now, and I haven't done it for a while. But going forward on this team, they need an arm. This is kind of where we're headed."

Schilling, a noted maven for routine on days he pitches, sat in the dugout until the sixth inning was over, then slowly strode to the bullpen behind left field as Cla Meredith replaced Jon Papelbon. To start the eighth, Schilling long-tossed with left fielder Chip Ambres, then retreated to the bullpen and started warming up from a mound.

As Meredith struggled, reliever Juan Perez started to loosen. Since the Red Sox don't want Schilling entering a game in the middle of an inning, Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson summoned Perez with two outs in the eighth, and Schilling sat down. Shortly after, the 10,067 on hand began chanting, ''We want Schill-ing."

When the inning finally ended -- Meredith and Perez had blown Papelbon's win and Schilling's save chance by allowing four runs -- Schilling started warming up again. The up-and-down preparation didn't bother him, he said, but he is trying to find an optimal routine out of the pen.

''That was as important today for me as anything," Schilling said. ''To get a feel for what I needed to do to be as physically and mentally ready as I can be when I walk out of the pen."

Schilling has made 112 career relief appearances, though 111 came before 1992, with Baltimore and Philadelphia. In his career, Schilling is 6-9 with 13 saves and a 3.38 ERA out of the bullpen. His only relief outing this decade came with Arizona at the end of the 2002 season, a one-inning effort used as a playoff warmup. In between those bullpen sessions, Schilling made 308 starts, and he's made 64 since.

Amalie Benjamin of the Globe staff contributed from Baltimore.