September 16, 2004: Curt Schilling wins his 20th game for Red Sox

In the 2003 season, when the Boston Red Sox fell just one win short of making the World Series, their starting rotation had little reliable depth behind superstar Pedro Martínez and veterans Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield. GM Theo Epstein sought to bolster the rotation and over Thanksgiving weekend visited with right-hander Curt Schilling. On November 28, the Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks consummated a trade that brought Schilling – a proven winner – to Boston, the organization with which he began his professional career in 1986.1

Schilling had tied for the major-league lead with 22 wins in 2001 and won 23 more games in 2002.2 A broken hand limited him to 24 starts and an 8-9 record in 2003, but he still finished with a 2.95 ERA. The Red Sox were counting on the 37-year-old to rebound, and he established his presence quickly, getting the win in Boston’s first victory of the 2004 season and beating the archrival New York Yankees the first time he faced them in April. By the end of June, Schilling was 10-4. After a loss on August 9, he won his next six decisions, running his record to 19-6 and dropping his ERA to 3.35. He went for his third career 20-win season on September 16, in Boston’s Thursday evening game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Fenway Park. He was going for his 20th win of the season.

Manager Terry Francona and the Red Sox were hosting Lou Piniella and the Devil Rays at Fenway Park. The Red Sox were four games behind the Yankees in the standings, having closed a gap that was 10½ games just a month earlier on August 15. Tampa Bay was no longer in the running; the Devil Rays were in fourth place, 28½ games back.

Starting for Tampa Bay was left-hander Mark Hendrickson. It was his second full season in the majors and he was 8-14 with a 4.93 ERA. He had been 8-8 at the end of July but then lost his next six decisions, including a 6-0 loss to Martínez and the Red Sox on August 12 at Fenway Park.

The ballpark was sold out, as it was for every game in the 2004 season. On five pitches, Schilling set down the side in order in the top of the first inning.

Hendrickson got the first Red Sox batter to ground out, but the next four all reached base – Mark Bellhorn on a double past third base and into the left-field corner, Manny Ramírez on a walk, David Ortiz on a single lined into left that loaded the bases, and first baseman Kevin Millar on a double down the line in left that drove in two runs. Jason Varitek grounded to first base and Ortiz scored the third Boston run while Tino Martínez tossed the ball to Hendrickson, covering first.

After Millar’s double, Hendrickson retired 10 in a row, but Schilling was also pitching a masterful game, allowing only a walk to Tino Martínez in the second and shortstop Julio Lugo’s leadoff double to center field in the fourth. Other than a first-inning leadoff fly ball hit by center fielder Carl Crawford and a leadoff fly to center by catcher Toby Hall in the third inning, no Tampa Bay batter got the ball out of the infield before Lugo’s hit, and Schilling struck out four in the first four frames.

The Rays got two singles in the fifth, by right fielder José Cruz and Hall, but second baseman Jorge Cantú hit the ball to Kevin Youkilis at third base, who threw home to get Cruz at the plate, and Crawford hit into a force play at second.3

Tampa Bay manager Piniella already had a reliever start warming up in the first inning, but Hendrickson pitched into the sixth. The Red Sox increased their lead in the fifth. Right fielder Gabe Kapler singled up the middle and was waved to second on a balk. Johnny Damon struck out for Hendrickson’s fifth K, but Bellhorn doubled again to left, off the base of the wall, and drove in Kapler. It was 4-0, Boston.

In the top of the sixth, Rays center fielder Rocco Baldelli hit a two-out solo home run into the second row of the Monster Seats atop the left-field wall. The score was 4-1.

The first two Red Sox batters reached in the bottom of the sixth – Varitek doubled over the third-base bag and into the left-field corner and shortstop Orlando Cabrera hit an opposite-field single to right-center, Varitek holding at third base. Piniella brought on a reliever, Chad Gaudin.4

Youkilis lined a single over second base and into center, scoring Varitek. One out later, Piniella brought on lefty Bobby Seay to pitch to Damon, who singled between first and second, driving in Cabrera for a 6-1 lead. Seay then struck out Bellhorn. Piniella made yet another move, calling in John Webb, who got Manny Ramírez to fly out to right for the third out. The inning ended with Boston ahead 6-1.

Schilling gave up a leadoff single in the seventh but then got a double play and a fly ball to right.

Five Red Sox runs in the bottom of the inning put the game away. Ortiz started things off by singling off John Webb, who had recorded the final out of the sixth. Millar hit a two-run homer into the Monster Seats in straightaway left. It was his 17th homer of the season and the 200th home run of the year for the Red Sox.

Varitek walked. Cabrera singled to left-center. Two fly outs followed, but the inning wasn’t over yet. Damon hit a three-run homer, his 16th, just over the visitors’ bullpen in right. Like Millar, he also had four RBIs in the game.

Schilling gave up a leadoff single in the seventh but then got a double play and a fly ball to right.

With an 11-1 lead, the Red Sox made a number of substitutions in the top of the eighth to give the regulars a bit of rest. Millar was replaced at first by Doug Mientkiewicz. Ricky Gutierrez took over at second from Bellhorn. Pokey Reese played short for Cabrera. Adam Hyzdu replaced Ramírez in left, and Dave Roberts replaced Damon in center.

Schilling perhaps might have benefited from a break, too. He gave up singles to Jorge Cantú and Crawford, the first two batters up in the eighth. Lugo grounded out, but Cantú took third, whence he scored when Mientkiewicz made a diving stop on DH Aubrey Huff’s smash and took the out at first. Baldelli drew a base on balls. Swinging at the first pitch, third baseman Geoff Blum doubled in both Lugo and Baldelli. It was 11-4 now, and Red Sox manager Francona summoned Terry Adams to relieve Schilling after 104 pitches. He threw one pitch, and Tino Martínez flied out to right field.

A fifth pitcher worked the bottom of the eighth for Tampa Bay – Todd Ritchie.5 He faced three Red Sox batters – Hyzdu, Dave McCarty batting for Ortiz, and Mientkiewicz – and got outs from each one.

Adams worked the top of the ninth for the Red Sox. Matt Diaz pinch-hit and grounded out. Midre Cummings pinch-hit and singled to center. Cantú singled off a diving Youkilis’s glove at third, the ball backed up by shortstop Reese, who threw back to third base in time to get Cummings out before he could get to the bag. And on three pitches Carl Crawford struck out, swinging at the last two.

Curt Schilling had his 20th victory, making him the first pitcher in the majors to reach 20 wins in 2004.6 The Red Sox were 24-5 in their last 29 games, and they gained a half-game on the idle Yankees.

The Red Sox took the train to New York for a three-game weekend series, but Schilling’s turn in the rotation did not come up. As it turned out, he did not start at Yankee Stadium during the 2004 regular season.7

Schilling added one more win before the season was over, and 2004 went into the books at 21-6. His 21 wins led the 2004 Red Sox. Pedro Martínez was second with 16, Lowe had 14, Wakefield had 12, and Bronson Arroyo 10.

The Red Sox finished second in the AL East but reached the postseason as the league’s wild card. During the AL Championship Series against New York, Schilling started twice at Yankee Stadium. He lost Game One of the 2004 ALCS, pitching with a torn tendon, but the tendon was stitched back into place by Dr. Bill Morgan, the Red Sox team physician. Schilling then pitched and won Game Six of the ALCS, holding the Yankees to one run in seven innings while TV viewers worldwide could see the “bloody sock” he wore as blood seeped through the stitches.

Schilling won one game in each of Boston’s three postseason series in 2004, a feat he repeated in 2007. Counting his time with Arizona, Schilling finished his career with a postseason record of 11-2 and an overall 2.23 ERA in playoff baseball. 

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Carl Riechers and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and a video of the game on YouTube.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS200409160.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B09160BOS2004.htm

Thanks to Wes Singletary for providing Tampa Bay area newspaper clippings.

Notes

1 Schilling was drafted by the Red Sox in January 1988 but was traded to Baltimore later that year. In 2001 he had won a major-league-leading 22 games, and had been 4-0 in the postseason, winning Game One of the World Series against the Yankees. In 2002, he had won 23 games. He agreed not to exercise the no-trade provision in his contract should the Red Sox deal for him. The Diamondbacks traded Schilling to the Red Sox for pitchers Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, and Jorge De La Rosa, and minor-league outfielder Mike Goss.

2 Matt Morris of the St. Louis Cardinals also won 22 games in 2001.

3 Piniella wasn’t happy that Cruz was thrown out at the plate, just stopping to be tagged. “We didn’t come here to play tiddlywinks,” he griped. “Run into the catcher; get into a rundown; try to get a catcher’s interference call; make them flub the play. Anything but just stop.” Cruz said he had assumed Youkilis would be going for a double play to end the inning, adding, “I was out by 10 yards. What was I going to do? He was straddling the plate with full gear.” Scott Carter, “Devil Rays Are Easy Mark for Schilling,” Tampa Tribune, September 17, 2004: 39.

4 Piniella said after the game that Hendrickson would be sent to the bullpen. “He’s been in a rut. He hasn’t won in how long? I can’t remember.” “Devil Rays Are Easy Mark For Schilling.” Hendrickson worked one game in the pen – which he won. He then had two more starts, winning one and without a decision in the other, finishing 10-15.

5 Piniella said afterward, “We’ve got a plethora of kids here. It’s almost like a tryout camp in September. … The ones that pitch a little better will get the ball again and the other guys can sit out there and get some meal money the rest of the month.” Mark Topkin, “Weary Rays Sent Packing,” Tampa Bay Times, September 17, 2004: 61. The Devil Rays went 8-9 for the remainder of the season, but held onto fourth place, finishing three games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays. 

6 Schilling was well aware that the Red Sox offense contributed to his wins; through this game the offense had scored a major-league tops 7.57 runs per nine innings in his starts, according to the Boston Globe. “The offense has been phenomenal,” he said. “Every night I take the ball, my goal is to keep the game close … and make sure the game is tight going into the sixth or seventh inning to allow the offense to do their thing. And every time I’ve taken the ball, they’ve done that.” Bob Hohler, “Roaring 20,” Boston Globe, September 17, 2004: E1, E6.

7 Schilling was 11-1 at Fenway Park. Of the ovation he received, he was asked, “Does it get any better than this?” He replied, “Yeah, it gets better than this. In a couple of weeks, hopefully it will get a lot better.” Mike Fine, “Thrilling Schilling,” Quincy (Massachusetts) Patriot Ledger, September 17, 2004: 21, 24.