Sox 7, Rangers 3

Curt Schilling looked strong in seven innings of work and David Ortiz picked up where he left off last season as the Sox topped the Texas Rangers 7-3 Monday.

Schilling (1-0) struck out five and walked one in his seven innings, giving up five hits. He ran into trouble in the sixth, when he gave up a couple of shots that turned into loud outs and a two-run homer to Hank Blalock.

It was suprising to see Schill come out to start the seventh after he finished the sixth at 99 pitches and sat for about 20 minutes while the Sox hit in the top of the seventh, but he had a 3-run lead at the time, and Francona often gives his veterans the benefit of the doubt (which, of course, is what got his predecessor fired). But Schill had an easy seventh, even notching his fifth K.

Jon Papelbon was impressive, pitching a 1-2-3 eighth, which is good because Keith Foulke looked shaky in the ninth. His fastball was in the high 80s and many of his pithces were up in the zone. He gave up a few shots -- Adam Stern bounced off the left-field wall chasing one and Coco Crisp made a fine catch in center field on the other.

Fortunately, he inherited a 5-run lead and gave up only one run.

Ortiz went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI, including a 2-run homer off the pole in right. Jason Varitek added two hits, including a two-run double.

Another encouraging sign was the contributions of the new additions: Mark Loretta had an RBI double and scored a run, Coco Crisp scored two runs and showed impressive speed on the bases and in the field, and Mike Lowell hit a home run.

Tim Wakefield gets the ball tomorrow, against former Philadelphia Phillie Vicente Padilla. Padilla, incidentally, was acquired by the Phillies when they traded Schilling to Arizona in 2000.