Count Is 2 and Uh-Oh

The Boston Red Sox are two wins away from their first World Series championship since 1918, two wins away from reversing the dreaded Curse of the Bambino, two wins away from, as pitcher Derek Lowe said, “one of the greatest parades in the history of sports.”

And they have accomplished nothing.

The Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of the World Series on Sunday night with Curt Schilling, his sock bloodied again from the sutures in his injured right ankle, throwing six masterful innings in a 6-2 victory in front of 35,001 in Fenway Park, to take a commanding two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven series.

And it means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

The Red Sox have been in this position before, they’ve seen how quickly momentum can change in a postseason series, and they’re not about to get too giddy, no matter how much their younger fans, apparently oblivious to the horrors this franchise has endured over the last 85 years, party in nearby Kenmore Square.

Remember 1986, the last time Boston was in the World Series? The Red Sox won the first two games against the New York Mets -- in Shea Stadium, no less -- and found a way (can you say Bill Buckner?) to lose the series in seven games.

Remember last week? The New York Yankees had a 3-0 lead over the Red Sox in the American League championship series and were three outs from a sweep before Boston stormed back to win four in a row, becoming the first team in baseball history to overcome a 3-0 deficit and win a seven-game series.

“If we allow ourselves to be overconfident, a good team is going to sneak up on you and take advantage of that,” said Red Sox reliever Alan Embree, who struck out the side in the seventh inning Sunday night.

“Look at the battle we just had with New York. We know how the other team felt when we were creeping up on it. We don’t want any part of that. We’ve had a great run. We don’t want to come up short. We don’t want to have a letdown.”

Still, as cautious as the Red Sox are as the series heads to St. Louis for Game 3 Tuesday night, as much as they try to ignore the significance of what they are on the threshold of achieving, you have to start wondering if the D-word -- destiny -- is beginning to smile on them this October.

Sunday night began with a local television report that Schilling had been scratched from his Game 2 start and a wire report stating Schilling was experiencing “significant discomfort” in the area of his dislocated tendon, where he had four stitches inserted Saturday.

Schilling lent credence to the reports when he said after the game that he woke up Sunday and “couldn’t walk, couldn’t move.” One of the stitches apparently had touched a nerve in Schilling’s ankle, so he had it removed early Sunday afternoon.

What followed on another miserable night for baseball -- 48 degrees, 15-mph winds, intermittent drizzle -- was what Schilling termed “just the most amazing day of my life.”

The veteran right-hander, relying on well-placed fastballs and some filthy off-speed pitches, gave up one unearned run and four hits, struck out four and walked one to improve his career postseason record to 8-2 with a 2.06 earned run average.

The Red Sox won despite committing four errors for the second straight game, including three by usually sure-handed third baseman Bill Mueller.

The Red Sox, who have won six consecutive postseason games, performed in the clutch: all their runs came on two-out hits, 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.

But they also caught a few breaks.

Cardinal third baseman Scott Rolen and catcher Mike Matheny both hit early rockets -- right at Mueller, who was nearly knocked down while catching Rolen’s first-inning liner and had only to turn and tag Reggie Sanders for an unassisted double play after catching Matheny’s second-inning shot.

With Sanders on first and one out in the second inning, Tony Womack executed a perfect hit-and-run play, dumping a single into right-center field, but Sanders missed second base on his way to third and had to retreat to second.

The second also began with Mueller and Varitek, the Red Sox catcher, tripping each other up on Jim Edmonds’ foul popup, the ball dropping between them. Mueller, who made 14 errors in 96 games at third base this season, was charged with the error, but Edmonds subsequently grounded out to first.

“I don’t know if I’d say we’re a team of destiny, but you need those breaks,” Embree said. “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”

The Red Sox pride themselves on picking each other up after they make mistakes, but at this rate, someone’s going to throw his back out trying. Sunday night, it was Schilling who did the heavy lifting, getting Womack to ground out after Mueller’s fourth-inning error and Sanders to ground out after Bellhorn and Mueller made errors in the sixth.

So many decisions that were made Sunday night seemed to work out for the Red Sox. Cardinal starter Matt Morris pitched around Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz in the first, walking the two Boston sluggers, and Varitek burned him with a 415-foot triple to right-center.

“They’re going to pick and choose who to pitch to, and those two walks in the first inning hurt them,” Boston’s Kevin Millar said. “Pick your poison. When everyone’s swinging the bat well, it’s a tough lineup to pitch to.”

Boston third base coach Dale Sveum, who was heavily criticized for having a stream of runners thrown out at the plate during one stretch of the summer, held Millar at third on Mueller’s double into the right-field corner in the fourth. Bellhorn then blasted a two-run double off the base of the center-field wall for a 4-1 lead.

Cabrera’s two-run single off the Green Monster in left field essentially iced the victory for the Red Sox, but don’t even think about putting any champagne on ice. Sure, of the 48 teams to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series, 37 have gone on to win the championship, but the Red Sox know better than to think the odds are with them.

“We’re in a great position, we’re happy to be up, 2-0, but the job isn’t done; this series isn’t over,” Boston center fielder Johnny Damon said. “Baseball ... it’s a funny game.”