June 7, 2007

G59: Red Sox 1, Athletics 0

Curt Schilling came closer to pitching a no-hitter -- 8.2 innings! -- this afternoon than he had in any of his 425 career starts. (Julio Lugo had made an error on a routine grounder that would have ended the fifth inning, so it was not a bid for a perfect game.)

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jason Varitek called for a slider, Schilling said no and threw a fastball, which Shannon Stewart lined to right field. Two pitches later, Mark Ellis fouled out to Alex Cora and the game was over.
           IP   H   R  ER  BB   K   BF  PIT
Schilling 9 1 0 0 0 4 29 100
Schilling went to a two-ball count on only seven of 29 Oakland batters. He threw three balls to only one of those seven: Jack Cust in the 2nd.

The Red Sox's run came on David Ortiz's solo home run in the top of the first.

***

Curt Schilling (3.91, 115 ERA+) / Joe Blanton (3.81, 113 ERA+)

Redsox.com:
Blanton will have a hard time matching his effort from his last outing, but he'll give it a try. Blanton took just an hour and 49 minutes to pitch a shutout on Saturday night against the Twins, holding them to three hits and striking out six.

Schilling couldn't build on his dominant previous start against Cleveland, allowing five earned runs and nine hits against the Yankees at Fenway. ... He has allowed 89 hits in 76 innings this season.

51 comments:

tim said...

Blanton took just an hour and 49 minutes to pitch a shutout on Saturday night against the Twins

That's gotta be some sort of a modern day record. 1h49m, we don't ever see that kind of game in Bahston - we're in for the long haul night in, night out.

allan said...

Quickest games this year:

April 6 at Texas: 2:14
May 10 at Toronto: 2:18

Gabbard's game against the White Sox last September 5 was 2:13.

But that's still 24 minutes longer than Blanton's game.

(Last night's game was 2:25.)

allan said...

Found this at USAToday re Blanton's game:

"... in the second quickest game of the season (1:49). The A's were also involved in the first, a 2-0 win over Seattle on April 27 (1:47)."

Also this year: Toronto beat the Whte Sox on May 31 in 1:50. And the Jays beat Detroit 2-1 in 10 innings on April 13 in a tidy 2:14. Halladay pitched a complete game.

tim said...

anyone know where i can get one of those wally figurines that don and jerry have in the booth? (sitting on the chair)

allan said...

you mean the little wally stuffed dolls? doesn't remy sell them on his website?

allan said...

Here?

tim said...

yes! that'd be the one. i was lookin for it at NESN and the MLB stores, never thought to check remy's site.

damn that adirondack chair is pricey. ah well, i'll have to find someone to send that link to so i can receive it for my birthday on monday =)

allan said...

1. Julio Lugo, SS
2. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Alex Cora, 2B
9. Coco Crisp, CF

tim said...

Oy vey.

Danie said...

You might also check friends and family's storage spaces, that's where I found my Adirondack chair for Wally, it's brown, not white, but I think it used to be a common thing to have for young girls (to use with the dolls).

My thought for today's game... don't hit into double plays... popping out is kinda okay, but don't hit it on the ground... It'll be magic... :)

tim said...

PAPI! at work so following on yahoo, dont want to break out the MLBTV and risk getting canned.

Zenslinger said...

My MLB.tv is blacked out (Bay Area). Sometimes I can get away with it at work.

Maybe it's just watching on GameDay, with all its interesting though baffling pitching info, but it seems to me that Schill is back to "pitching to contact".

So far, so good -- we need a win.

tim said...

Maybe it's just watching on GameDay, with all its interesting though baffling pitching info

I'm not a fan of the new Gameday, I've only seen it a couple times. It just seems like too much.

And I've worked at this job for a little over a month, plus my desk is in prime location where everyone can see the monitor. So, no MLBTV today :P

stefan said...

Anyone know what PFX stands for on Gameday? Happy to see that Curt's playing stopper today, but come on, offense, get hittin'.

Zenslinger said...

Four innings on 48 pitches. Hopefully Curt is not thinking "Complete game!" too much. One pitch at a time...

And -- more runs, please, offense. Seems like we've had a lot of line drives.

Zenslinger said...

I don't get excited about no-hitters or perfect games.

Not yet.

s1c said...

Just got home and have been listening on WEEI. Mills son got taken in the first round so the family must be feeling good. Class act by the A's to get the family a suite to watch the draft.

As for no hitters / perfect games if or when six innings are completed then I start to think maybe a no hitter or perfect game. Until then, well its just a well pitched game.

48 after four for #38 is good, of course it would be nice if the offense showed up.

Zenslinger said...

How about after seven perfect innings? 82 pitches, 58 for strikes. One reached on a Lugo error.

If he pitches the ninth I'm hauling ass for the nearest sports bar.

If we lose this game I'm going to be very frustrated.

s1c said...

74 pitches after 6 for schilling. So he is staying right on that 12 pitches per inning.

7 innings done and its 82 pitches. Come on offense.

s1c said...

Sports bar would be great, but I am sitting here drinking my glacier freeze with rum and enjoying every pitch.

Would be nice if we got some runs though.

FYI - Schilling has thrown two 1 hit games in his career. The first he gave up a home run to Bonilla in the fifth and the second he gave up a single to Raul Casanova in the second.

Zenslinger said...

Gameday says Youk out at 3rd? Huh?

s1c said...

They missed the bag at second on the bunt and Youk thought he was Coco so he broke for third. He was tagged out by Scutaro about 5 feet from the bag.

s1c said...

3 outs to go wooo hoooo

Zenslinger said...

Anyone warming up?

s1c said...

No one is warming up. Schilling is at 90 pitches through 8.

Zenslinger said...

This must be the most nerve-wracking kind of perfect game ninth inning -- you can not only mess up your perfect game, you can also lose it pretty easily. Unless we can score here...

s1c said...

Papelbon is starting to warm up now.

Sarah Haendler said...

Stop talking about it!!!! I'm trying not to even thing about it!

Zenslinger said...

Shit! Or could that mean they're going to put him in with a short leash...?

s1c said...

I think if he blows the no hitter before two outs then we will see Papel-bot.

s1c said...

Nice play by Lugo and its two outs to go. woo woooooooooo!

Sarah Haendler said...

And again! Thanks Lugo.

s1c said...

Lugo almost throws it away at first but its two down. wooo woooo!

s1c said...

FRAGGGING UNBELIEVABLE. Just past Cora on the first pitch.

Zenslinger said...

Faaaah-k!

Ah, well, incredible game.

s1c said...

Schilling put the stop in stopper today. I think I heard that since he has been with the Sox this is the fifth time he has won after 3 or more losses.

On to the diamondbacks (who are on a roll).

Zenslinger said...

WHIP of .11 for the game. Damn.

laura k said...

A spectacular outing, an amazing game.

My heart was pouding...!

allan said...

My heart was pouding too!

Hell of a performance.

He should have a good blog post up -- maybe tonight.

thatdietcokegirl said...

mine too. i couldn't sit down the whole 8th and 9th, i was just pacing around lol.
damn you shannon stewart! ;p

still, very good note to end on. avoid the sweep on a 1-hit gem from curt (was he pitching a perfect game up till the hit?)

s1c said...

The perfect game was wiped in the fifth when Lugo made his seventh error of the year.

Great game by Curt though. If Cora was two inches taller he makes the catch.

Watch the reaction of Lowell when they show the hit. Hands in the air clasping his head. Just great.

Zenslinger said...

I thought a perfect game meant no hits, no walks.

Live and learn.

thatdietcokegirl said...

I thought a perfect game meant no hits, no walks.

Live and learn


that's what i thought. but...now i know :)

Shando said...

Spectacular pitching by Schill today!!!! Perfect weather, Ortiz's HR and near perfect for Schill!!! What a day to be a sox fan in CA!!! And so many Sox fans in Oakland Stadium today!!! =)

Shando said...

What a game today in Oakland!!! Perfect weather, perfect HR by Ortiz and near perfect for Schill!! And sooo many RS fans in Oakland...shutting up those obnoxious A's fans!!! =)

allan said...

Perfect game is 27 up and 27 down.

No one reaching base at all for any reason -- hit, walk, error, HBP.

We lost 3 of 4, but all of the games were close -- 4-5, 0-2, 2-3, 1-0. Allowing only 10 runs over 4 games is encouraging. Scoring only 7 is frustrating.

But as long as the pitching remains solid, the bats will come around more times than not.

laura k said...

My heart was pouding too!

First make fun of my petition, then make fun of my spelling.

So who's editing your stories, by the way...?

laura k said...

couldn't sit down the whole 8th and 9th, i was just pacing around lol.

I do the same thing. I can hardly watch at the end.

laura k said...

Watch the reaction of Lowell when they show the hit. Hands in the air clasping his head. Just great.

I saw that too. You probably also caught the wry smiles of Lowell, Yook and others as they congratulated Curt. That we're-happy-for-you-but-this-sucks kind of smile.

s1c said...

Did you catch the Ortiz comments. Papi said he didn't even realize that Curt had a no hitter going until one out in the ninth. "I looked up and I was seeing all those zeroes on the scoreboard then I came to the H and saw one there and it was like Whoa".

Benjamin said...

So does this count as a Papi first-inning walkoff? (I know your contest excludes road games.)