01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, July 9, 2005

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BALTIMORE -- Curt Schilling is scheduled to have at least one and possibly two more appearances with the Pawtucket Red Sox before being activated with the parent club for the start of the second half of the season.

Schilling, who pitched out of the bullpen Thursday night for Pawtucket, is scheduled to get some relief work in tonight in Syracuse. The Red Sox may also have him pitch tomorrow to see how he responds to pitching on consecutive days.

In an inning, he gave up two runs, one of them unearned.

Manager Terry Francona said that, according to reports, Schiling's stuff was "varied . . . a little bit inconsistent."

Francona said a return Thursday, when the second half of the season begins, is "realistic. But we have to follow the program."

Damon wastes no time

For the fourth time in his last five starts, Johnny Damon took away the drama early, extending his hitting streak at his first opportunity.

Damon dumped a bloop single into left field in his first plate appearance, extending his hitting streak to 23 games, tying him for the 12th-longest streak in team history.

Just for good measure, Damon sliced a single into the right-field corner in his next turn at bat in the second inning.

The streak is the longest in the majors since Carlos Lee had a 28-hit game string May 13-June 15, 2004, and the longest for a Red Sox outfielder since Dom DiMaggio had a 27-game streak in 1951.

Poor offerings from Philly

The Philadelphia Phillies are actively shopping starter Vicente Padilla and veteran reliever Tim Worrell.

Padilla, who was sent to the Phils in the deal that saw Schilling dealt to Arizona in 2000, has twice won 14 games for the Phils (2002, 2003), but has been generally erratic. Worrell, 38, took time off this season to battle what the pitcher called "personal psycological issues."

According to an N.L. source, the Red Sox were among the many teams contacted, but their interest is limited. The Phillies may have asked for Wade Miller in return.

Millar not on the block

The Red Sox angrily denied a TV broadcast report that suggested that the Sox would announce that they had traded Kevin Millar immediately after the game and that GM Theo Epstein had traveled here from Boston to tell of the deal personally.

The Sox have been quietly soliciting interest in Millar -- at the request of his agents -- and finding little on the trade market.

Millar has gotten the lion's share of playing time at first over John Olerud, but has just 32 RBI and only 18 extra base hits in 73 games before last night, with an anemic .378 slugging percentage.

First road rain delay in years

Thursday's night game, called after six innings because of rain, was the Red Sox' first shortened game on the road in almost seven years. The last one was on July 21, 1998, when they lost to Cleveland, 4-2, in game called in the middle of the eighth inning. The Sox went into last night ranked next-to-last in the American League in stolen bases, with 21, but swiped two in the first six innings -- Damon stole second in the second, and Mark Bellhorn stole second in the sixth.

The crowd of 49,174 -- many of them Red Sox fans -- was the largest crowd at Camden Yards this season and the fourth-largest in the ballpark's history. . . . The Orioles are just 3-12 in its last 15 games. They're in third place in the A.L. East, their lowest positioning since April 9 when their 2-3 record had them fourth in the division. . . . Damon has scored at least one run in each of his last seven games. . . . The win was Bronson Arroyo's first career victory against Baltimore in eight outings.

Rafael Palmeiro is now just five hits shy of 3,000 for his career. When he gets there, he'll become just the fourth player in history amass both 3,000 hits and 500 homers. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray are the others. . . . When Sammy Sosa faced Jeremi Gonzalez in the eighth, it marked the first meeting between the two since 2003 when Sosa, then with the Cubs, faced Gonzalez, then with the Devil Rays, and saw his bat splinter, revealing cork.