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October 19, 2007
Curt Schilling struggled in his Game Two starts against the Indians, surrendering two homers and five earned runs in only 4 2/3 innings.
But with the Sox' season on the line tomorrow night, manager Terry Francona and pitching John Farrell are expecting their erstwhile ace to respond with a solid outing.
Francona reached back to 2004 memories, when Schilling not only took the ball but beat the Yankees in Game Six of the ALCS in another elimination game.
"It's probably unfair," said Francona of his high expectations for tomorrow night.
"Even dating back to the (bloody) sock (in 2004). I remember the soap opera watching him throw in the bullpen and having the doctors and the trainers out there and he really shouldn't have pitched. And I can't remember one moment ever thinking he wouldn't pitch and not only that, but that he wouldn't win. And that probably wasn;t fair, but that kind of sums up how I feel about Schill.
"You know, he's a pro in every sense of the word when it comes to competing, and at this time of year, that is comforting," said Francona.
Farrell, meanwhile, was similarly excited about the prospect of having Schilling take the mound in the big game despite the fact Jhonny Peralta and Grady Sizemore each homered last week.
"I think we're all very confident that he'll perform tomorrow as he's done really over the last four to six weeks since returning from the disabled list," said Farrell. "To me (Schilling's performance in Game Two) was a matter of four runs on two pitches (the homers). Other than that, I thought he was very consistent as in his most recent outings."
Posted by Steven Krasner 
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