The Red Sox righthander keeps Oakland bats fairly quiet and is backed by Boston's season-high output for hits and runs.

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, May 26, 2004

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- When last they met, the Red Sox and Oakland A's went to the final inning of the final game of the American League Division Series before a winner emerged. Entering last night's meeting, their first of 2004, one game separated them in the standings, a measure of how closely matched the two clubs are.

But by the fourth inning, this one was a mismatch. The Red Sox sprinted to a 5-0 lead, then kept piling it on against starter Tim Hudson and a succession of relievers, thumping the A's, 12-2.

"I was expecting this to be a tight one," said Red Sox starter Curt Schilling (6-3), "but our offense was nails tonight."

The Sox pounded out a season-high 19 hits and 12 runs. Seven of the nine starters had at least one hit, with Mark Bellhorn, Johnny Damon, and Jason Varitek collecting three apiece and David Ortiz matching his career high with four.

The top three players in the Red Sox lineup combined for 10 hits and seven RBI, with Bellhorn knocking in five -- two on a homer off Pesky's Pole. Manny Ramirez chipped in with his third homer in the last four games.

"We're swinging good," said Ortiz, who boosted his average to .287. "We've been swinging pretty good the last couple of weeks."

"I was obviously pleased," said manager Terry Francona. "Going into a game like that . . . you don't expect to do that. We had (Hudson's) pitch count up early and made him work for everything. We really had a good approach to him. We made it very difficult for him."

"It was a rather unusual performance for Huddy," acknowledged Oakland manager Ken Macha. "I don't think he hit his spots too well. I think he wound up with four walks and a hit batsman."

Even after Hudson left after the fourth, the Sox beat up on two Oakland lefties out of the bullpen -- Chris Hammond surrendered four runs on five hits in two innings while Ricardo Rincon gave up four hits and three runs in just two-thirds of an inning.

Incredibly, the game could have been even more lopsided as the Sox stranded as many runners as they scored (12), including eight in scoring position. Three times the Sox left the bases loaded.

The win was the sixth in the last seven games for the Sox, who are now 11 games over .500 (28-17) for the first time this season.

The offensive outporing was all the more surprising since it came on a day when the Sox learned they would have to do without third baseman Bill Mueller, the defending American League batting champion, for the next six weeks. Mueller is set to undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his knee later this week.

"I think that's the way we're supposed to do it," Francona said. "Billy's a really important part of our ballclub. But when somebody goes down, you don't use that as an excuse to lose."

"You still have to come out and do your best," echoed Ortiz. "Bill's a key player here, but we've got to hang in there until he comes back."

The big offensive cushion made for an easy night for Schilling, who shut out the A's for five innings before losing command of his fastball in his final two frames. Schilling's win was his second in his last two starts, giving him consecutive victories for the first time since winning his first three outings of the season.

Schilling, too, was poised for a pitcher's duel and instead found himself on the easy end of a laugher.

"It seemed like he was having a lot of trouble commanding the strike zone, which is not something he usually does," Schilling said of Hudson. "He moves the ball in and out. He has great command. Some credit to his wildness, but a lot of credit to our offense for being patient and eventually breaking him."

Schilling, meanwhile, cruised, allowing just three hits through the first five innings. Back-to-back doubles in the sixth from Eric Byrnes and Eric Chavez finally produced a run. In the seventh, the A's turned four singles into another run.

By then, the marcaine Schilling had injected to quiet a chronic sprained right ankle began to wear off.

"After getting it taken care of," Schilling said of the injection, "I felt as good as I've felt in about six or eight weeks. Warming up I felt fantastic. I had good command. But the medicine kind of wore off after the fifth and I struggled.

"We're working on keeping it treated. But tonight was an eye-opener as far as how I feel. It's something we'll address and keep working to get better."