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Schilling, Red Sox go for two-game World Series cushion

Oct 25, 2007 - 1:52 PM Colorado at Boston 8:29 pm EDT World Series Red Sox lead, 1-0

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox put a swift end to Colorado's winning streak on Wednesday night. On Thursday, they will try to hand the Rockies two losses in a row for the first time in nearly six weeks.

Curt Schilling will take the mound when the Red Sox host the Rockies on Thursday in Game Two of the World Series.

Josh Beckett continued his outstanding postseason run by striking out the first four batters of the game en route to seven strong innings and Dustin Pedroia kick-started a three-run first inning with a home run as Boston jumped out early and demolished Colorado, 13-1, in Game One of the 103rd Fall Classic.

David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Julio Lugo paced a 17-hit attack with three hits each for Boston, which set a franchise record for most runs in a World Series game and established an all-time record for most runs in a Game One of the Fall Classic.

The Red Sox have won their last four games, pounding the opposition by a combined score of 43-6.

"We're swinging the bats well right now and we're putting together good at-bats every inning and were scoring some runs," said first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who had two doubles and scored three runs. "Our pitching has been great. Josh threw the ball well.

"It's great for us to come out here and win a game that big. Get our psyche up and get our confidence going, we're thrilled to come out and get the first win of the series and we just have to go from here and keep playing. That is a good team across the way and we just have to keep fighting."

Colorado entered with an unprecedented 21 wins in its last 22 games, including a perfect 7-0 in the postseason, but had not played since October 15 - an eight-game layoff which was the second-longest time between games leading into a World Series.

"You saw a real good Josh Beckett tonight and our inability to shut down an inning," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "What did they have, all but two of their runs scored with two outs?

"We're a no-excuse ballclub and we won't start now. Our strength is our confidence hasn't been shaken by a bad game or a series of bad games, but that's not the way we wanted to start."

Schilling brings an even more impressive postseason pedigree than Beckett into his Game Two start. The 40-year-old righthander's 10-2 career mark in the playoffs is the best winning percentage of all-time, and his 2.25 postseason ERA ranks third on the list.

He earned the win in Boston's 12-2 thumping of the Cleveland Indians in Game Six of the ALCS, but he was pounded in his lone start against the Rockies this season, yielding six runs - five earned - and nine hits in five innings.

"They're good," Schilling said of Colorado. "I would like to think it was a combination of not throwing well, not executing well, but that's a good team. They were a good team then and they swung the bats well then.

"I've been watching that game and I certainly didn't command the ball well at all, but it's a pretty good offensive team. It's one of the few teams I think we've played over the last couple of years in the National League that was structured more offensively like an American League team with a lot of guys swinging the bats. And some guys as the season went on coming into their own."

The Rockies will counter with rookie Ubaldo Jimenez. In two postseason starts the 23-year-old righthander has allowed just two runs in 11 1/3 innings while striking out 11.

"Jimenez is - that stuff will be electric," Hurdle said. "That's the kind of stuff that every once in a while you step back and you go, wow, that's special. He's shown some special poise for a young pitcher. And he's got good stuff. Any time you get a swing and miss pitch against a good offensive club and you're playing in a small park, that's important."

On Thursday, he will have to find a way to work around a Boston lineup that got an RBI from eight of the nine starters in Game One.

Jimenez has also shown a tendency to lose command at times, walking four batters in each of his playoff starts. That can be deadly against the Red Sox, who have a .388 on-base percentage as a team in the playoffs and drew eight walks in Game One, including three straight with the bases loaded.

History is against the Rockies. The winner of the first game has gone on to win 60.8 percent of the World Series, including nine of the last 10.