Big Papi hit his 11th homer off Oakland Athletics' starter Joe Blanton in the first inning, which was all the run support Boston Red Sox veteran ace Curt Schilling would need.
Schilling was efficient and commanding, pounding the strike zone and reaching a three-ball count only once. He forced the A's to hit routine fly balls to the outfield, recording 12 of his outs in the air. He also struck out four in the 100-pitch outing - his first shutout since 2003 and first complete game since 2004.
But it was no no-no. Fast-forward to start of the ninth inning. I IM'ed my buddy Ian from SOX & Dawgs and simply said, "So, we don't talk about this?"
Two groundballs later, Schilling shook off a sign from catcher Jason Varitek and Shannon Stewart hit one into the outfield. Ian replied, "It's all your fault."
I chuckled a bit, apologized, and got to thinking about superstitions: rally caps, lucky shirts, not talking about a no-hitter in progress. I believe that rule applies only to players on the bench, not people at home... but I could be wrong.
Anyway, almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Schilling almost no-hit the A's last night... but they still pulled off the win.
[38 Pitches]
1 comment:
You jinxer!
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