Monday's game

Chicago got a good outing from starter Brandon McCarthy, who shut out the Sox for seven innings. McCarthy (2-1) gave up only three hits and struck out seven in leading Chicago over the Sox, 5-3.

Curt Schilling started strong but struggled in the middle innings. Schill (5-7) lost some velocity on his fastball as the game wore on, which shows that he's not at 100 percent yet. Usually Schilling gets stronger as the game moves along, frequently still hitting 90+ on the gun in the late innings.

The Sox made it interesting in the ninth, getting three runs off reliever Bobby Jenks, who brought to mind Ted Williams' theory that pitchers are "the dumbest people in the world" by getting away from the slider with which he struck out Manny Ramirez and going to the curveball too often.

Jenks' hard fastball makes his other pitches more effective. He used it to bury Jason Varitek 0-2 before freezing him with a curveball -- smart. The pitch was up, but because Varitek was fooled, Jenks got away with it. But he went to the pitch twice more, giving up Kevin Millar's double off the green monster and Tony Graffanino's homer over it -- not so smart. In both instances he left the pitch up and sped up the bats of hitters who appeared to be having a hard time getting around on the fastball.

A visit from pitching coach Don Cooper put an end to the curveball, and a good play by Paul Konerko on a hard-hit ball by Gabe Kapler put an end to the game.

Notes: Keith Foulke looked sharp in his inning and 2/3 of work. His change was working and he had good movement. ... The Red Sox picked off two Chicago baserunners -- Schilling picked off Scott Podsednik at first base in the third, and Varitek erased Juan Uribe at second after a failed bunt attempt in the seventh. Podsednik then stole his league-leading 56th base. ... Carl Everett topped off his three-strikeout performance by loafing to second base on a hit off the monster and being thrown out by about a hectare.

One more thing: Fans usually get on announcers for stupid comments, so I'd like to credit Jerry Remy for his insightful observation regarding Schilling's release point in the second inning. Remy pointed out the difference in Schill's release point on fastballs that were high and out of the strike zone, and fastballs that Schilling, after correcting the problem, threw to strike out Chris Widger.