Stopper couldn't close the deal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A few days ago, in his pregame sitdown at Kauffman Stadium, Terry Francona talked about his ace -- how solid he's been, how consistent, how accountable.

``When we're on a losing streak," the Red Sox manager said, ``he takes it personally."

So it seemed Curt Schilling took the mound last night with a grudge -- the Royals had, after all, knocked around Sox pitchers for two games already.

But Schilling's vendetta wasn't enough. He allowed 10 extra-base hits, tying the American League record set by Washington's Dale Gear in 1901 and Cleveland's Luis Tiant (againt the Red Sox) in 1969. A steady start crumbled in the eighth, when he squandered a two-run lead and took the loss in the 5-4 Royals win, completing a Kansas City sweep, and a 1-5 record for the Sox on this road trip. So, did Schilling feel an extra burden to get the win?

``Absolutely," he said. ``That's why I was so fired up going into that eighth inning. I knew I was in control. I got that first out, and even though it would have been a bad trip at 2-4, it's still a win going home, and everything felt fine. The wheels fell off.

``It's a horrible trip. We didn't play well. We didn't pitch well enough to win, and if we want to play baseball instead of golf in October, we're going to have to pitch better. No one's absolved from that."

He was strong through seven, throwing just 89 pitches while giving up two runs on seven hits. When the Sox took the lead in the seventh on Wily Mo Peña's three-run homer, Francona said Schilling was ``inspired." And it looked liked that momentum would carry over when he took the mound in the eighth with a 4-2 lead and got the first out right away on a Mark Grudzielanek fly-out to right field.

But then it fell apart.

Mike Sweeney doubled and then scored when the next batter, Mark Teahen, doubled. Schilling then walked Emil Brown and gave up another double -- the ninth for Kansas City -- to Reggie Sanders (who went 3 for 4 with three doubles), scoring Brown. Ryan Shealy rounded out the hit parade with a single -- the first Schilling gave up.

That was it for the ace. He left after 7 1/3, surrendering the ball to Mike Timlin with runners on first and third. The Royals knocked Schilling around for five earned runs on 11 hits. He walked two and fanned seven. Despite all those extra-base hits, Schilling remained in command through seven, and seemed baffled as he sat in the clubhouse after the game, sitting with his head in his hands, rubbing his face until it was red.

``I gave the game away," he said in an almost disbelieving tone. ``I gave a game away we should have won . . . I don't know that there's any in-depth explanation. I didn't get the job done when I had to make the pitches."

He didn't tire in the eighth, he said, not at all. He just couldn't finish what he started, a characteristic that has been plaguing Sox pitchers lately. And now the plague has hit the two most stable forces on the staff -- Jonathan Papelbon, who blew his second consecutive save opportunity and was credited with Wednesday night's loss, and Schilling, their ace, the guy in the rotation counted on for consistency, Francona said.

``It's never one guy one way or the other," Schilling said of the Red Sox' slump. ``We're playing bad, and as a member of this rotation and a part of this pitching staff, I can tell you we're not pitching as well as we need to pitch. That's a big reason why we're not consistent, and we're not winning more."

But could you blame it on injuries? Might things get better as guys heal and rejoin the team?

``That doesn't matter," Schilling said. ``We've got to play tomorrow. We can't look at things like that. The Yankees found a way to do it, day in and day out and, like I said, if we want to play in October, we better find a way to do it too, starting tomorrow."