For the first time in 14 years, Curt Schilling left a start without recording one strikeout, as the Atlanta Braves circled the Red Sox wagon train, captured the men, and performed unspeakable acts to the women and children.  Since nearly throwing no-hitter, Curt has been slapped around like a cat toy, as he’s given up 19 hits and 11 runs in the 9.1 innings since he threw the 1-hit gem.

Did I mention that I hate Interleague play?  Oh yeah, I did.  Just the sight of Curt Schilling wearing a batting helmet sends off warning signals, similar to the feeling one would get if they spotted Michael J. Fox climbing into the cockpit of a 747.  Something must be done here.  Again, I’ve been against this even when the Sox were routing these teams.  If MLB insists on scheduling Interleague games, they should at least incorporate the DH across the board.  In today’s specialized era of baseball, it’s painfully obvious that pitchers have no business at the plate.  What exactly would we be missing if pitchers didn’t bat? The double-switch and terrible bunts?  Oh no, what will we do without those?! 

I’m not sure why the player’s union doesn’t fight for this, since it would create 16 additional high-salary starting jobs.  Let it be noted that I was once in favor of getting rid of the DH, and having the pitcher bat in the AL.  This was back when I was a young, naive purist. 

Back to the game: where Coco Crisp and J.D. Drew picked up where they left off: shaking off the cobwebs of the early season.  Crisp’s about-face has been the most noticable, as he’s been hitting the ball much better than what we’ve seen in the first 2 months of the season.  Crisp nailed his second and third homers of the year to garnish a perfect 4-for-4 game last night, and Drew added his fifth of the season.

June numbers:

Drew: .292/.352/.542
Crisp: .304/.339/.429

On a rather disturbing note, Mike Timlin continues to look like a guy who can no longer hang in The Show.  His fastball has been registering around 89 MPH, and he was always the type of pitcher who operated around the plate.  The guy is just throwing batting practice at this point.  Alas.

Aside from Coco’s career night, this was an ugly game all-around.  The Sox send their ace to the hill tonight to exact revenge upon these savage Braves.  Beckett (9-1, 3.39) will face familiar foe Tim Hudson (6-4 3.25).