Finally, there's little suspense as Boston sprints to a big early lead and cruises past Tampa Bay for its fourth consecutive win.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 20, 2006

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- The three previous games had been filled with drama, right down to the very last out. Even Tuesday, when the Sox won by a three-run margin, the winning runs had not come until their final at-bat and the win wasn't secured until their closer wiggled out of a bases-loaded, ninth-inning jam.

Last night, however, there was little suspense and things were tidied up long before the last two innings. The Red Sox sprinted to an 8-0 lead by the third inning and cruised to a 9-1 thrashing of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for their fourth consecutive win.

It marked the first Red Sox win since the home opener that the potential tying run didn't come to the plate in the ninth inning.

Curt Schilling, who had to make do with four runs of support in his last two outings combined, was the beneficiary of the offensive outpouring, improving to 4-0, his best start since the 2001 season.

Never before had Schilling won his first four starts of a season. He began the 2001 season 5-0 for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but had a few no-decisions along the way. In each of his last three starts, Schilling has allowed exactly one run.

Clearly, there are no more questions about Schilling's viability as the ace of the rotation this season.

"I think he's probably really enjoying the fact that he's not trying to keep that ankle held together with splints and all kinds of contraptions," said manager Terry Francona. "He's just competing, and I think we feel on most nights he's going to be good enough to win because he's one of the elite pitchers in the game."

Schilling yielded one run over six innings while walking one and striking out seven, but was typically critical of his own performance.

"Today was very much a struggle for me from a consistency standpoint," said Schilling. "I struggled command-wise, getting ahead. I had trouble being consistent tonight. But I took solace in the fact that when we needed to make some pitches early in the game, we made them.

"But it was a struggle."

Rudy Seanez, Julian Tavarez and Keith Foulke each contributed an inning of scoreless relief, while the Sox rested relief workhorses Mike Timlin and Jonathan Papelbon (34 pitches Tuesday night).

Kevin Youkilis, who delivered the go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth inning Tuesday night, continued to wield a hot bat, driving a pitch from Tampa Bay starter Doug Waechter over everything in left for his first homer of the season.

"The changeup stayed up for me and I was able to put a good swing on it," said Youkilis.

It was also the first leadoff homer for the Sox since Johnny Damon hit one off Tampa's Seth McClung last Aug. 29, 2005.

The Sox' big inning came in the third when they sent 11 men to the plate, seven of whom scored, the biggest single-inning output of the season. Youklilis again was a big part, delivering a one-out single and later adding a run-scoring double.

It was his second three-hit game of the young season -- he also collected three hits on April 7 at Baltimore -- and the seventh of his career. Over the last 12 games, Youkilis is batting .386 (17-for-44) with six extra-base hits and 10 RBI.

In his eight games as the Sox' temporary leadoff hitter in place of the injured Coco Crisp, Youkilis sports a .486 on-base percentage.

"I feel good at the plate right now," said Youkilis. "I've been working on some things, and I hadn't felt as comfortable until the last few days. Basically, I'm going up there trying to keep the same approach and not trying to do too much."

Mike Lowell chipped in with a two-run double, his seventh two-base hit in the last eight games. Trot Nixon contributed a run-scoring single and Jason Varitek added a sacrifice fly to help with the Sox' big inning.

Tampa helped some, too, with an airmailed throw by Joey Gathright in the third leading to one run, and two errors in the span of three at-bats from left fielder Ty Wigginton leading to another run in the fifth.

smcadam@projo.com / (401) 277-7340