ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Manager Terry Francona eyed his thin bench, which by the eighth inning of the Boston Red Sox' 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last night had turned into one warm, healthy position-player body, that belonging to outfielder Gabe Kapler.

Francona elected to replace right fielder Wily Mo Pena with Kapler after David Ortiz's second homer of the game, this one leading off the eighth, had provided Boston with its one-run advantage.

The manager was well aware that his only other spare players for the night, Javier Lopez and Mike Lowell, were used up, with Lopez replacing Doug Mirabelli (twisted left ankle) in the second and Lowell (badly bruised left foot) unable to walk, let alone play.

So Francona felt he had to give Kapler a warning of sorts.

"If you get hurt, I'll come out (of the dugout to check on him), but you're not coming out of the game," Francona said to Kapler.

At this stage of the year, after a dizzying week of injury upon injury, the gallows-type humor seemed highly appropriate.

The Sox are staggering, having lost Trot Nixon (biceps) and Jason Varitek (knee) to the disabled list, and the ranks were thinned out even more for last night's game at Tropicana Field with Lowell unavailable and Mirabelli knocked out early.

But while the Rays' fans were waving thousands of cowbells that were handed out in a pregame promotion, the Red Sox are serving notice that they are not ready to wave a white flag. The atmosphere on the bench was exhilarating, said Francona, in the face of all the adversity this team has faced this week.

"We banded together," said Francona. "That's the best our dugout has been all year."

"Everyone was cognizant that we needed to create some positivity," said Kapler.

There were many positives.

Curt Schilling turned in an ace-like effort after being tagged for solo homers by Damon Hollins (leading off the first) and Carl Crawford (third) that gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead.

Schilling found the Fountain of Youth with his fastball when he really needed it in tight spots in the sixth and seventh innings, at that point pitching in a tie game thanks to Ortiz's first homer, in the fourth, and Kevin Youkilis's sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Ortiz, of course, is positively out of this world when it comes to power-hitting, clubbing his 38th and 39th homers of the year, going over the Devil Rays' shift that features four outfielders.

And Kapler hurt Tampa Bay by cutting off a ball in the gap and gunning down Travis Lee in his ill-advised attempt to stretch the hit into a double leading off the eighth with the Rays losing, 3-2. Lee hesitated halfway to second before heading to the bag, where he was so dead he didn't even bother to slide.

"All I was trying to do was cut it off," said Kapler. "That's my job there, and then get it back into the infield as fast as I can, but make a good throw. Maybe I saw him pause. Maybe he was looking to see if I was coming up throwing, trying to catch me off guard."

"That was the play of the game," said Francona.

But there was more, especially on the mound where Schilling, with relief help from Manny Delcarmen and Jonathan Papelbon (30th save) sparkled.

In the fourth inning, Schilling survived a glancing blow off his right hand from an infield hit.

He was at his very best in the sixth inning when the Rays, thanks to a couple of scratch hits and a sacrifice bunt, had runners at second and third with one out in a 2-2 game.

At that point, Francona did something he almost never does. He went out to the mound to talk to the pitcher, calling in all of his infielders, including Lopez, who just joined the Sox earlier in the day and was pressed into service more quickly than either he or Francona had anticipated.

Normally, when Francona goes to the mound, he has his hook with him as he calls for a new pitcher. This time, he wanted to talk strategy with his ace. He wanted Schilling to intentionally walk Dioner Navarro and then pitch to B.J. Upton, a rookie just recalled from Triple A with the bases filled and one. Light-hitting Tomas Perez was on-deck.

"I wanted to tell the infielders what we wanted to do," explained Francona. "I didn't want to play the infield in (with Navarro). If he makes contact and it goes through, it's two runs. So I wanted to walk him. I took that decision out of Schill's hands. I wanted the walk there and then get a strikeout" of Upton.

Schilling reached back. He threw four outside-corner fastballs to Upton, lighting up the radar gun at 94, 94, 96 and 94, respectively, in a strikeout. Perez was dispatched on three outside fastballs, registering 96, 95 and 96, respectively, on the gun. Perez swung and missed each one.

The display of power was punctuated by Schilling, who punched the air with his fist in triumph as he stormed off the mound and stalked back into the Sox' dugout.

"He just dialed it up, not only with velocity but with location," said an admiring Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. "For those couple of hitters, he was a different pitcher."

Schilling punctuated his night's performance with another strikeout, this time holding speedy Carl Crawford (33 stolen bases) close at first base in the seventh. During the course of Jorge Cantu's at-bat, Schilling threw over to first base four times to keep an eye on Crawford, who had drilled a two-out single to right.

Around the pickoff throws, Schilling fired three fastballs to the plate, fanning Cantu on blazers of 94 (taken), 93 (taken) and 95 (high, out of strike zone, swung at and missed). Those were, by the way, Schilling's only strikeouts of the game.

"That was pretty impressive," said Francona. "With Crawford on first, he was able to make pitches and hold him there. That's Schill."

Lopez, catching Schilling for the first time, was similarly impressed.

"You see him throw fastballs (as an opposing hitter) and you wonder why you can't hit it. But the guy was amazing. Now I understand why (he's hard to hit)," said Lopez.

"At this stage of the season, (between starts) I work harder, not less," said Schilling. "That's why I was able to reach back. I was throwing 90, 91. Then at 95 and 96, it's a change" for the hitter, said Schilling.

"It was a struggle," said Schilling, now 14-4. "But with everything that happened, it was a grind tonight."

And a hard-earned, satisfying win.

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