With seasoning done, Schilling set to dig in

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The next one counts. The next time Curt Schilling pitches will be Opening Day at Ameriquest Field, the only American League Park in which he's never pitched. How excited is he?

''Nervous, anxious," the erstwhile ace said yesterday. ''I don't think many of my questions will get answered until the season starts. I want to believe that physically I can be where I was, if not better. I'm human, so I want to see it happen."

Schilling pitched seven times down here but only twice in major league games, both times against Pittsburgh, a team that ranked 28th last season in runs. So, there's not a lot of available or telling data to use as a jumping-off point in a discussion of Schilling's readiness.

For what it's worth -- and it might not be worth much -- he pitched eight innings in those two starts and allowed six runs on 10 hits. He struck out seven and walked one. He went just four innings (67 pitches) yesterday, scaling back his workload, as pitchers generally do in their final spring start. He gave up six hits and two runs.

By his count, he threw 30-something innings this spring between his two big league starts, one college start, and four minor league starts.

''And I don't feel fatigued," he said. ''My arm feels fantastic, and that's the thing I hold out more than anything."

His fastball velocity during most of the spring was in the 89-to-92 mile-per-hour range, with the rare 93 or 94. Yesterday, Schilling was routinely 90 to 94, according to one radar gun, with more fastballs touching 93 and 94 than in his previous outings.

Perhaps, then, Schilling was sandbagging when he said the fastball he had yesterday ''was probably as bad a fastball physically as I felt I had all spring."

Last year, his relative lack of velocity and often-ineffective splitter allowed hitters to foul off pitches and wear him down, sooner than in years previous. Will he be able to finish guys off this year?

''I'm getting there," he said. ''At no point last year was I confident and comfortable with putting guys away because I didn't feel like I had the ability to do it."

He believes the addition of a changeup will help. ''I will use my changeup," he said. ''I might have thrown 10 last year. I can see situations where I might throw close to that many in a game."

But, he doesn't think he's going to develop into something other than a power pitcher.

''Not yet," he said. ''So much of what I do is preparation, that I'd like to think it will take me longer to get to that transition point because I go in with such a micromanaged game plan. I don't have to be 96 [miles per hour] on the corners. I know where [hitters'] holes are, and I know I can make pitches to those holes."

If nothing else, he'll be mentally prepared come Monday. He said he's been studying Texas's hitters for two weeks now.

Keith Foulke made his third big league appearance and allowed one hit, though it took a sensational leaping catch by Manny Ramírez to prevent what would have been a second hit and a more complicated inning. Foulke, in three appearances (vs. the Blue Jays, Devil Rays, and Pirates), has allowed only one base runner. That came yesterday, in the form of a fifth-inning single he yielded on a 3-and-1 pitch to Jeromy Burnitz. Foulke, in not allowing any runs, has been a bit lucky: he's gotten four of his nine outs on liners.

''I thought today he left a couple changeups up, he wasn't as quite as sharp as he has been," manager Terry Francona said. ''It'd be nice to see him come back [today] and be a little bit crisper." Foulke will pitch an inning against the Reds today, pitch Saturday, then reassume his role of closer for Monday's opener.

Ramírez's catch was a nice one. Jason Bay, the second batter of the inning, stung a ball to deep left. Ramírez, who plays shallow, turned, ran, twice took his eyes off the ball to check the wall, then leapt and made the grab, crashing into the wall.

Fans applauded madly but Ramírez motioned toward the ground with both hands, implying them to be less surprised and/or less appreciative. Ramírez has worked a noticeable amount on his defense this spring.

''There's been a couple times I'll tell him, 'You're done after this at-bat,' " Francona said, ''and he'll say, 'Let me go play the outfield one more inning.' "

Still no word yesterday on how Major League Baseball will punish Julián Tavárez for punching Tampa Bay's Joey Gathright Monday. One thing was apparent yesterday: Tavárez might be lucky that a lengthier fight didn't ensue. Gathright, according to yesterday's St. Petersburg Times, has a black belt in tae kwon do. ''I've seen Gathright do some ninja kick over this dude's head who was 6-7, a roundhouse kick over his head, just to show he can do it," Devil Rays DH Jonny Gomes told the paper. ''So, yeah, I guess you'd call [Tavárez] lucky. He'd be chop suey." . . . Yesterday's sequel to the March 11 game, when Schilling hit Pittsburgh's Chris Duffy in the head and said Duffy should have gotten out of the way, was uneventful. Schilling, though, did talk to Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy on the field before the game. Alex Cora, who played for Tracy in Los Angeles, went out with Schilling, possibly to moderate. But neither Schilling nor Tracy wanted to discuss the incident. ''We were just wishing each other luck," Schilling claimed. Said Tracy: ''It's not even something I'm going to discuss. That's way down the road." . . . Trot Nixon's two-run single in the seventh provided the tying and go-ahead runs in yesterday's 3-2 win over Pittsburgh . . . Mike Lowell went 1 for 2, improving his average to .267. Alex González, 0 for 3 yesterday, fell to .122 (5 for 41).

Catcher Ken Huckaby, whose left knee wasn't healthy enough to allow him to compete for the backup spot, said he'll accept an assignment to Pawtucket. The veteran said he has an out clause that allows him to take a better offer with another team, but not until June. He's especially disappointed because he spent about three weeks in Tim Wakefield's hometown of Melbourne, Fla., before camp opened, catching Wakefield four days a week, only to get hurt March 2 . . . Enrique Wilson, who does not have an out clause, said he'll report to Pawtucket, with the understanding that the Sox won't object to him taking a major league offer elsewhere. ''I'm going," Wilson said. ''Hopefully, at some point in the season, they can call me up. If another team offers me a big league job, they won't stop me if something else comes up. I'll be available." . . . Pawtucket-bound Dustan Mohr, who can opt out of his deal as early as today if he doesn't want to play in the minors, wasn't prepared yesterday to say how he intends to proceed . . . Hee Seop Choi's injured left hamstring kept him off the field yesterday. When he'll play again is unclear. He's likely to be sent to Pawtucket soon . . . Francona confirmed that Kevin Youkilis will be his Opening Day starter at first base against the Rangers' Kevin Millwood.