Schilling, bullpen pitch Sox past Rockies

BOSTON - First a blowout, then a nail-biter. October ace Curt Schilling and Boston's stingy bullpen figured out another way to stop Colorado.

Relying more on guile than pure gas, Schilling pitched the Red Sox to a 2-1 victory Thursday night and a 2-0 lead in the World Series over the suddenly stagnant Rockies.

Mike Lowell hit a tiebreaking double in the fifth and the Red Sox got 3 2-3 innings of shutout relief from Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon to win their sixth straight Series game, including a sweep of St. Louis in 2004.

''This was the Pap-ajima show tonight,'' Schilling said. ''That was just phenomenal to watch.''

The victory in '04 ended an 86-year title drought and set off a wild winter of celebrations all over New England. Two more wins this year and the party's on again.

The Series shifts to spacious Coors Field for Game 3 on Saturday night, when $103 million rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka pitches for Boston against Josh Fogg.

''Our hometown crowd is probably looking forward to this as much as anything in a long time,'' Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. ''We could use the support.''