BOSTON – Curt Schilling threw a splitter that didn’t split, and Derek Jeter made the ball split from Fenway Park.
“I was trying to bounce that ball in the dirt,” a disgusted Schilling said after Jeter’s three-run homer in the eighth inning led the Yankees to a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox last night. “I don’t ever take credit away from the hitter, but I was trying to bounce that ball.”
So much for the gem Schilling had pitched for the first seven innings. The right-hander wasn’t only effective, he was efficient. Sixty-nine pitches heading into the eighth? Almost unheard of.
In the end it was just another defeat for Schilling, his third in as many decisions against the Yankees this season.
The resemblance to Schilling’s previous appearance against Clemens – Game 7 of the 2001 World Series – was striking. Pitching for the Diamondbacks that night, Schilling carried a 1-1 game into the eighth, but allowed an Alfonso Soriano homer. Arizona rallied to win against Mariano Rivera in the ninth, letting Schilling off the hook.
This time Schilling (8-8) wasn’t so fortunate. The Red Sox got a run against Rivera in the ninth, but David Ortiz couldn’t deliver a hit with the bases loaded that could have won the game.
Schilling went 72/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and no walks. All was fine after he struck out Melky Cabrera to begin the eighth, but successive singles by Doug Mientkiewicz and pinch hitter Jason Giambi had the Yankees within a sacrifice fly of taking the lead. After Johnny Damon grounded out, Schilling left a splitter up to Jeter, who crushed it over the Green Monster, thrusting the Yankees ahead, 4-1.
“I missed horribly probably in the most crucial situation of the game,” Schilling said. “That’s not something I can do anymore. I can’t overthrow the ball late in the game.”
Though he’s no longer the ace of Boston’s rotation (that distinction belongs to Josh Beckett), Schilling is still a force. Last night marked only the second time in his last seven starts that he surrendered more than three earned runs.
Schilling had allowed a pair of singles until Robinson Cano led off the fifth with a homer to make it 1-1. But Schilling got rolling again, retiring the next 10 batters before Mientkiewicz singled in the eighth.
“[Schilling] got through that lineup until Jeter’s home run with such a low pitch count,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “He looked really, really good.”
mpuma@nypost.com