The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 29

TV highlights Golf: British Open 7 a.m., TNT Baseball: Yankees-Red Sox 7 p.m., Ch. 38 Listings, C2 Scoreboard C15 The Boston Globe Friday, July 15, 2005 IN relie Jackie MacMullan Schilling taken deep in ninth by Rodriguez By Chris Snow GLOBE STAFF New closer gets off to a bad start I Curt Schilling's genre of choice has long been dra-I ma, and there last night, i At precisely 3:50 yesterday afternoon, Curt Schilling strode into Fenway Park as a reliever. He had been gone 69 games, just after 10, was the ultimate stage. He, the hero, jogged out of the bullpen, flashbulbs lighting up the night, the delirious crowd standing, and the villainous Gary Sheffield and Alex Rodriguez due up. But, in two disturbingly forceful cuts, Sheffield and Rodriguez inserted a jarring dose of reality into Schilling's return engagement.

The game was tied at 6-6, the inning was the ninth, and well, Schilling met a Foulkian end. Sheffield, who went to a full count, laced a splitter off the Wall in left-center for a leadoff double, and Rodriguez, waving his bat as effortlessly as a magic wand and with similarly mystic power obliterated another splitter. "Tonight was sort of his signature type of thing," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "Because he hit a monster home run." Another 5 to 10 feet of lift, and the home run would have cleared the wall in RED SOX, Page C6 Dan Shaughnessy Yankees steal a showdown struggling to regain his form as a dominant starter after right ankle surgery, and since that had not occurred to the liking of the pitcher, his manager, or his front office, Schilling elected to suit up for the Yankees series as a bullpen ace. He hoped.

Nearly eight hours later, Schilling retreated to the Red Sox clubhouse having surrendered a monstrous two-run shot to Alex Rodriguez in the ninth. A-Rod, the Yankees third baseman whom Schilling dismissed as "bush league" last winter following Boston's World Series triumph, deposited a listless splitter into the bleachers, just to the right of the flag pole. Teammate Gary Sheffield was aboard for the ride, having ripped another Schilling splitter moments before off the Wall. "I threw about two as bad splits as I could throw," lamented Schilling in his postgame news conference. "I felt my strength coming in was I could use whatever pitch I needed in certain situations." Thus, what could have been another chapter in Schilling's heroic storybook in Boston shutting down the dreaded Yan- kees in the ninth of a 6-6 game disintegrated into a frustrating 8-6 loss tagged onto his already woeful 2005 statistics.

Sox manager Terry Francona was understandably protective of his pitcher in the aftermath of last night's loss. He reminded anyone who asked this was only the beginning of an experiment he expects will be successful in time. "As long as he pitches with MacMULLAN, Page C7 What a night at Fenway. Six homers flew out of the yard, fans were entranced for the full nine innings, and Alex Rodriguez bested Curt Schilling in a duel for the ages as the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 8-6, in the first of four. There was no curbing any enthusiasm, not even with Larry David sitting in the third row of Henrytown.

Oh, and the win pulled the once-laughable Yankees (weren't they a .500 team a few New York minutes ago?) to within 1 Yi games of the first-place Red Sox. You could have scalped your ticket stub for a couple grand in the eighth inning. There was magic in the air, Neil Diamond on the loudspeaker, and Schilling warming up in the bullpen. No bloody sock this time just blood, guts, pride, and ego. The Big Schill hadn't pitched for the Red Sox since April 23.

SHAUGHNESSY, Page C6 GLOBE STAFF PHOTOJIM DAVIS Red Sox reliever Curt Schilling stares into center field as Alex Rodriguez rounds first after his ninth-inning home run. After pre-race inspection, take several rounds out of the car by Gaining an unfair advantage How NASCAR teams modify cars to increase performance. inserting a jackbolt into the rear window. The car will sit lower, giving it a better drag number at high-speed tracks. Before qualifying, mount Install a traction-control device in the ignition system.

Woods picks up where he left off ByJimMcCabe GLOBE STAFF ST. ANDREWS, Scotland Glances skyward brought a grimace and a shake of the head from Colin Montgomerie in yesterday's opening round of the 134th British Open at the Old Course. "It's ominous," said Montgomerie. "Ominous." Did the dark clouds signal miserable weather was blowing in from the Firth of Forth? Montgomerie shook his The device will regulate the spin of the rear tires, allowing a driver to run faster through turns. the timing transponder on a sliding track and move it several inches forward during the second lap.

The extra few inches will improve the car's lap time by several-hundredths of a second. Install space in the fuel i Spray refrigerants into the cowls. The chemicals briefly increase the engine's horsepower. 134th BRITISH OPEN XN First-round leaders Pull out the fenders during a pit stop. 3 yy cell and remove it before the race.

Increased capacity in the fuel cell allows a team to pump in more gas and improve the car's mileage. Install bump stops in the car's suspension. The stops will limit the car's travel and prevent it from rising to its legal height on straightaways. The altered body wi head. "It's ominous who's up on top of the leaderjboard, ominous.

Unfortunately! Not unfortunate for him, but unfortunate for me and the rest of the competitors stuck on 1 under and level par." Indeed, Montgomerie's stares were cast on leaderboards high above grandstands all over this ancient piece of golfing property. With each look, the Scotsman saw what everyone else could plainly see Tiger Woods picking up right where he left off five summers ago. "If there's ever a course built for him, it's this one," said Montgomerie, whose round of 1-under-par 71 was quite adequate, until it was matched against Woods's effort, a 6-un-der 66 that could easily have been better, but was still good enough to lead by one over result in more downforce and a better-handling car. SOURCES: NASCAR GLOBE STAFF GRAPHICAARON STECKELBERG RNO PLAYER PAR 66 WOODS 6 67 HENSBY -s NOTABLES Goosen -4 Singh -3 Garcia -1 Daly Montgomerie -1 Nicklaus 3 Shifty operators NASCAR teams will do anything yes, cheating to get ahead By Fluto Shinzawa GLOBE STAFF Mark Hensby and by two over a logjam of 10 names, among them Retief Goosen, Luke Donald, Fred Couples, and Jose Maria Olazabal. No one would dispute Montgomerie's assessment of St.

Andrews being a perfect fit for Woods. After all, the world's top-ranked player BRITISH OPEN, Page C12 MIIIIIIUIIIMIIIIIMIIIIIIHIMIIIIMIMIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIHIIIIMIIIMIIIMIIMMIMMIIIHIIIIIIIIIII he practice, as with most shady activities, has several polite euphemisms. Working in the gray area. Pushing the limits. Taking all that NASCAR gives you.

Translate these weekend at New Hampshire International Speedway. "If there are 48 cars in Sonoma this weekend, I think there will be 48 guys pushing the limits," Kevin Lepage, driver of the No. 37 Dodge, said several weeks ago. "We push it, but in one area. Other guys push it in 10 areas.

You have to push that limit. If not, there's no use going to the racetrack." Just as pitchers have scuffed balls and defensive ends have jumped snap counts, crew chiefs and drivers, including some of NAS- CHEATERS, Pag.cil failed NASCAR's postrace inspection, the crew chiefs for each team were suspended for two races and fined a total of $60,000, while their drivers were stripped of 25 Nextel Cup points apiece. If these fines, suspensions, and penalties were meant to be deterrents, they haven't worked. In the past four weeks, NASCAR has found 12 violations, collecting $54,000 in fines. This recent track record, combined with NASCAR's history of cheating since the sport's birth, makes it likely that some, if not most, teams will challenge the legal barriers this I Insideplus phrases into one dirty word: cheating.

Following the season-starting Daytona 500, NASCAR fined 10 teams atotal of $102,000 for competing with various unapproved components. In March, after the first- and second-place cars at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Kick-start Cap fits On course Goalkeeper Keller Bruins vow to spend American cyclist can't resist when the maximum under Leipheimer in posi- US calls.CZ new salary rules. C3 tion to contend. C14.