Baseball: Boston Party But Schilling is Keen to Keep His Feet Up

The St Louis Cardinals made it through to the World Series on the back of their home form - six post-season wins out of six - but, when they face the Boston Red Sox in game three at home this evening, they must start making inroads into a 2-0 deficit or they may soon be staging a wake on their own ground.

Game four is also scheduled for Busch Stadium tomorrow, with game five due there on Thursday, and, despite the reverses of the past weekend, St Louis are still outwardly confident of winning all three.

"We get to go home to a place we feel comfortable and a place we played well all year," said the catcher Mike Matheny, more than aware that their regular-season record of 105 wins was the best in the country and that the National League championship pennant was secured by winning four home games against the Houston Astros, and that after trailing 3-2.

The downside of keeping the record going is that they may not have seen the back of the patched-up Curt Schilling, the Red Sox pitcher who did for them in game two. But the 37-year-old, in his third World Series and who uniquely gained his third win for a third club (Philadelphia in 1993 and Arizona in 2001) will be a happy man if his season's work is over.

Schilling hobbled to the middle on Sunday with his right ankle again held together by stitches, the tendon sheath torn in the division series against Anaheim Angels still needing an operation. He then pitched six innings with blood seeping into his sock, conceding only one run, and did as much as anyone to secure the 6-2 win that seized control of the 100th World Series.

Pedro Martínez takes over this evening, well rested after pitching only one inning in last week's American League series decider against the New York Yankees. He comes up against Jeff Suppan, who pitched brilliantly in St Louis's game-seven win against Houston.

Schilling actually woke up on Sunday and decided that he was in too much pain to play game two after coming in for, and winning, the must-win game six of the American League series against the New York Yankees with the same tendon stitched down. The pioneering surgery was conducted in 20 minutes under a local anaesthetic.

"I wasn't going to pitch [on Sunday]. I couldn't walk, I couldn't move," Schilling said afterwards. He set out for Fenway Park, nevertheless, his car journey punctuated by hosts of good luck messages fixed to telegraph poles, buildings and bridges and, when the doctor looked him over, they stumbled on the solution.

"Somehow we put an extra stitch in this time because there were some issues we wanted to try and avoid from last time and somehow we caught a nerve in the leg," Schilling said. "We took the stitch out and things started to change almost immediately."

He had another local anaesthetic before the start and turned in a gritty 94-pitch effort, allowing only four hits, to earn the victory despite some shoddy fielding from his team-mates, including three errors from the third baseman Bill Mueller. The Red Sox runs all came with two men out - Jason Varitek's two-run triple in the first inning, Mark Bellhorn's two-run double in the fourth and Orlando Cabrera's two-run single in the sixth.

"I just wish everyone on the planet could experience the day I've just experienced," said Schilling, who has been told the operation might be too dangerous to repeat. "It depends what his tissues look like this time," said Bill Morgan, the team doctor.

"Hopefully I won't have to pitch again this season," Schilling added. "My body is just breaking down on me right now. It's the first time in my life that I've felt my age."

It is hard to imagine he will not play, if required. But, if the Red Sox get the job done without the man who was signed in November to help them capture the title that has eluded them since 1918, he can console himself during convalescence with the fact that a huge windfall is heading his way, with his salary increasing from $12.5m to $14.5m and a $13.5m option for 2007 becoming guaranteed.