SERIES FINALE
Red Sox 9
Yankees 3
On a night the Yankees discovered they will be without Gary Sheffield at least until September, played a third straight game without Derek Jeter and heard a sold-out Yankee Stadium boo Alex Rodriguez, they slugged three homers off Curt “Table For 1” Schilling.
Unfortunately for the Bombers, they were solo shots and not nearly enough to match a three-run sixth-inning against Jaret Wright or a three-run homer from Jason Varitek in the seventh off Scott Proctor.
The 9-3 Red Sox victory allowed them to leave the Bronx without having lost three straight to the Yankees, whom they trail by a half-game in the AL East. As usual, the blood rivals have split 10 games.
Nicknamed “Table For 1” by a former Red Sox teammate because of his selfcentered attitude, Schilling’s pitching ability has never been questioned.
“He did what he had to do,” said Damon, who led off the first with a homer to tied the score, 1-1. “He didn’t walk anybody.” Outside of homers by Damon, Bernie Williams and Robinson Cano, the Yankees did nothing against Schilling, who improved to 9-2 and leads the AL in victories.
In eight innings, Schilling gave up four hits, no walks and faced only one batter with a runner in scoring position. The hit that didn’t go over a fence was Damon’s double in the third, but he was caught off second on Melky Cabrera’s fly to center.
“Part of it is working down in the zone more,” Schilling said of his effectiveness.
A-Rod, who made an error that helped fuel a three-run sixth, was booed by 55,225 when he fouled out in the seventh and fanned to end the game. A-Rod, who leads the Yankees with 11 errors, is in a 1for-15 (.067) slide since returning from a stomach virus Sunday.
Wright, who was 2-1 with a 2.02 ERA in the previous four starts, allowed one run through five but left in the sixth after not retiring any of the four batters he faced.
Wright walked Ramirez to open the inning and start trouble.
“The walk to Manny and he was pitching carefully, and all of a sudden the tying run is at the plate,” Torre said of Wright, who is 3-4.
Consecutive singles by Trot Nixon and Varitek followed the walk. Varitek’s hit scored Ramirez and reduced the Yankees’ lead to 3-2.
After Wright hit Mike Lowell with a 0-1 pitch to load the bases with no outs, Joe Torre summoned Proctor.
He traded an out for a run when Kevin Youkillis flied to center, tying the score, 3-3. Varitek tagged and went to third and scored when A-Rod couldn’t come up with Alex Gonzalez’ one-hopper to put the Red Sox up a run.
“I thought it was hit a little harder,” ARod said of the ball toward the line. “I got my glove down but the spin took over.” David Ortiz led off the seventh with a double and Proctor walked Ramirez intentionally to face Trot Nixon with the Red Sox up a run, two on and nobody out.
Nixon popped up, but Varitek launched a 2-0 pitch into the right-field seats for a 7-4 Red Sox cushion.
“I wanted to get it down, if he beats me, he beats me with a ground ball in the hole. I was looking for a double play,” Proctor said.
Despite the defeat, Damon wasn’t down.
“I think we are the best team out there,” Damon said.
That may be right, but thanks to Schilling, the Red Sox were the better club last night.