Timlin not ready to retire

Mike Timlin will turn 41 during spring training next season (March 10). After being an indispensable piece of the Red Sox' bullpen the previous three seasons, including a league-leading 81 appearances in 2005, Timlin has struggled mightily this season.

But for those thinking that the time has come for Timlin to call it a career, he has other ideas. He said yesterday he would like to pitch in 2007.

``I want to get to 1,000 games," Timlin said. ``Forty-six to go."

Timlin has 954 appearances, and would like to become the 11th pitcher in modern baseball history to appear in 1,000 games. Jesse Orosco, who pitched until he was 46, holds the big-league record with 1,252 appearances. Dennis Eckersley, who ended his career with the Red Sox and is now with NESN, was third on that list with 1,071 until former Sox lefthander Mike Stanton, who had 78 appearances for Washington and San Francisco entering play last night, blew by him and was at 1,105.

There are a host of barometers to measure Timlin's dramatic decline this season as Boston's primary setup man, none more startling than the 6.16 ERA he has since coming off the disabled list June 13, compared with the 1.40 ERA before he was put on the DL because of a sore shoulder.

Also telling is how Timlin's strikeouts per nine innings are at a career low, 4.13 (6.61 last season), as he has whiffed just 27 batters compared with 59 last season.

And the sinkerballer isn't getting the ground balls he used to: He has recorded 80 ground ball outs to 83 fly ball outs, a ratio of 0.96, compared with 363 ground balls and 235 fly balls in his previous three seasons with the Sox, a 1.54 ratio. That change helps to explain the seven home runs he has given up this season, including a three-run home run to Ramon Hernandez of the Orioles Tuesday night, compared with the two he gave up all of last season.

``I'm just not throwing the ball where I'm supposed to be throwing the ball," Timlin said. ``I can't say I'm not tired. Throwing 300 games in four years."

Asked if he would consider prolonging his career in a different role than setup, perhaps as a sixth- or seventh-inning man, Timlin shrugged. ``Relief pitchers are relief pitchers," he said.

The Red Sox, who have heard numerous complaints from their players about the schedule this season, prevailed upon the commissioner's office to eliminate one of the four West Coast trips the team had been scheduled to take in the master draft of the 2007 schedule.

The Sox were scheduled to open in Minnesota, then go to Seattle. Under the revised schedule, which could still be tweaked but is not expected to undergo any more major changes -- some clubs will be releasing their schedules before the end of the season -- the Sox will open the 2007 season in Kansas City April 2.

After an offday, the Sox will play two more games against the Royals, then go to Texas (April 6-8) before returning home to face Seattle April 10. (The original draft had the Sox opening against Tampa Bay.) Following the Mariners into town will be the Angels, who will stick around through Patriots Day (April 16), raising the prospect of an 8 a.m. telecast back in Southern California.

The interleague lineup also has been changed, with the Sox now scheduled for visits from the Rockies (June 12-14) and Giants (June 15-17), while making a previously unscheduled visit to Arizona (June 22-24). They also will play home-and-home against Atlanta.

The three West Coast trips now line up this way: Oakland (June 4-7) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (June 8-10); Arizona (June 22-24) and Seattle (June 25-27), with the trip actually beginning in Atlanta (June 18-20); and Seattle (Aug. 3-5) and Los Angeles Angels (Aug. 6-8), a trip that ends in Baltimore.

The Yankee dates:

Home: April 20-22, June 1-3, Sept. 14-16.

Away: April 27-29, May 21-23, Aug. 28-30.

The Sox end the season with a six-game homestand: two against Oakland, then four against the Twins.

Manny Ramírez missed his third straight game because of a sore right knee. Manager Terry Francona said he scratched Ramírez from the lineup without talking to him, saying the trainers will let him know when Ramírez can play . . . Coco Crisp also was scratched because of finger issues. ``Every time he hits the ball off the end of the bat, he feels shock waves," Francona said.

Given the MVP talk that has linked their names, you might be interested to know that David Ortiz and Derek Jeter both have 40 RBIs since the All-Star break. Nine American League players have knocked in more runs in that time, led by Frank Thomas of the Athletics (52) and Michael Cuddyer of the Twins (51). Ortiz has a .423 on-base percentage and .663 slugging percentage in that span, compared with Jeter's .418 OBP and .535 SGP. Jeter leads the major leagues with a .396 average with runners in scoring position, which incidentally is .236 points higher than Sox shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who ranks last in the AL in that category with a .160 average (17 for 106). Ortiz is at .293 with runners in scoring position, but he leads the majors in RBIs (36) that have put his team ahead, five more than Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels, the only other AL player who has at least 30.

Ortiz, who is two home runs shy of Jimmie Foxx's club record of 50 in a season, is chasing another ghost. Ortiz's 30 home runs on the road are two short of the American League record of 32, set by Babe Ruth in 1927. Only four players since have hit 30 or more on the road, three of them doing so in 1961, when the AL expanded to 10 teams: Roger Maris (Yankees) hit 31 and Mickey Mantle (Yankees) and Jim Gentile (Orioles) both hit 30 in 1961, and Brady Anderson (Orioles) hit 31 in 1996. Barry Bonds hit 36 for the Giants on the road in 2001 to establish the major league record.

Curt Schilling, telling trainers his shoulder was sluggish, according to Francona, pushed back his simulated game until today, which all but eliminates him from making a start during the Yankees series. The Sox will go with Josh Beckett in the series opener tomorrow night, then Julian Tavarez and Kyle Snyder in Saturday's day-night doubleheader, the order to be determined. For now, the Sox don't have a starter for Sunday, with lefthander Kason Gabbard doubtful because of a strained side muscle. The Yankees said they will go with rookie Jeff Karstens tomorrow, Jaret Wright and Randy Johnson in that order Saturday, and Mike Mussina Sunday . . . Gonzalez, who had a strained muscle in his side that put him on the DL, is batting just .203 since the break, his lack of offense the primary reason the Sox may elect to let him walk after the season despite his superb defense . . . Mark Loretta comes into the season's final 2 1/2 weeks ranked third among AL second basemen in on-base percentage, behind Robinson Cano (.362) of the Yankees and Brian Roberts of the Orioles (.359) . . . For the record, Daniel Bard's signing bonus with the Red Sox was $1.55 million, which compared favorably with players drafted in the second half of the first round. The Sox gave Bard, who was the 28th pick overall, $250,000 more than Jason Place, the high school outfielder they took one pick earlier. Bard's signing bonus was $2 million less than the $3.55 million received by University of North Carolina teammate, Andrew Miller, who was picked sixth overall by Detroit and is in the big leagues.