Schilling socks it to his opponent again

Curt Schilling’s right sock bore no traces of blood Sunday, unlike the day three years ago when his famously stained hose became a symbol of the Red Sox’s perseverance in rallying past the Yankees to win the American League pennant.

Schilling’s seven-inning, six-hit effort in the finale of Boston’s American League division series sweep of the Angels cost him no blood. But it did cause him some anxiety initially.

“Early in the game my fastball command was, at best, spotty,” he said. “I thought after the third inning it got very consistent.”

It improved because he demanded it to, because he has been through so much duress so often that he is not intimidated by knowing that a series can turn on one pitch or one at-bat.

When the ball wouldn’t do exactly what he wanted, he didn’t become tentative. He attacked. He and catcher Jason Varitek mixed in some off-speed pitches, confusing the Angels and sending them meekly into the warm autumn twilight.

Schilling’s exploits in Boston’s 9-1 rout Sunday weren’t as courageous as his Game 6 performance in the 2004 ALCS or his subsequent victory over St. Louis in Game 2 of the World Series. But it was a gem in its own right, 76 strikes among 100 pitches, a triumph built on smarts and determination.

It typified why the 40-year-old right-hander is 9-2 in postseason play, an .818 winning percentage that is the best in playoff history among pitchers with at least 10 decisions.

It showed, pitch by precisely planned pitch, why his postseason earned-run average is 1.93, including a 4-0 record and 0.93 ERA in five division series starts.

“He’s a big-game pitcher. He’s unbelievable,” said teammate Eric Gagne, who gave up the Angels’ run in the ninth.

“It doesn’t matter how old he is -- 55 years old and he still does it. That’s pretty impressive.”

Gagne can be excused for lapsing into hyperbole. Schilling was that decisive.

“When you get Schills some runs in the playoffs it seems like that’s all you need,” Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew said. “He’s played this game long enough and knows what he wants to accomplish out there. He’s tough to handle in the playoffs. He dominates.”

Challenged in the third inning, when the Angels loaded the bases on a single, a force play, another single and a four-pitch walk to Vladimir Guerrero, Schilling knew he had to bear down against Reggie Willits.

He worked the count to 1-and-2 before pulling out a 93-mph fastball that Willits popped into foul territory on the third-base side. Varitek reached out and snared it, bobbling it before he secured it in his glove.

“The first two or three innings I missed a lot, and I got lucky because they took or they fouled some balls off,” Schilling said. “I threw a fastball that ran back on him and he fouled it off and then we made a good pitch coming in on him to finish off the at-bat.

“I thought after that, my command got better and more consistent. I thought it was two different games in my mind after that at-bat.”

It was his game after that.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez supported him with consecutive home runs in the fourth and Schilling stymied the Angels again in the seventh, after Maicer Izturis doubled and got to third on Howie Kendrick’s grounder. Schilling got Juan Rivera to pop up and struck out Mike Napoli, another key moment because the Red Sox came back with seven runs in the eighth inning.

“There were a lot of little momentum swings in the game today,” Schilling said. “But in October I always feel it’s a lot less game-to-game momentum than it is inning to inning, hitter to hitter.

“I don’t think games carry over here, because of pitching. Especially in an environment like this. They’re a hit away from having a rally and the fans being into it and the momentum changing, so you focus hitter to hitter and pitch to pitch.”

That ability, said Red Sox Manager Terry Francona, is why General Manager Theo Epstein acquired Schilling from Arizona in 2003. And why the Red Sox included in his contract a clause extending his service a year, through 2007, if he led Boston to a World Series title.

“Even back when he was bleeding all over his sock I never for one minute didn’t think he would not find a way to win a game,” Francona said in the happy din of the visitors’ clubhouse at Angel Stadium.

“You’re not always perfect. You’ve got to find ways to will yourself to be good, and he can certainly do that.”

Schilling more than did his part in silencing the Angels’ offense and limiting them to a team batting average of .192 in the series.

“To me, the key to beating them, besides stopping Vladdy, is to stop their running game, and I thought that we did a phenomenal job as a pitching staff of not allowing them to do that,” he said.

“It’s like taking a bat out of the lineup. When you don’t allow a speed-based team to run, you take away a weapon.”

Schilling and his teammates took away the Angels’ hopes, too, while sustaining their own. And they did it with no blood, a minimum of sweat and a reward of happy tears.

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.

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ALCS

Schedule for best-of-seven American League Championship Series:

BOSTON RED SOX VS. NEW YORK-CLEVELAND

Game 1: Friday at Boston

Game 2: Saturday at Boston

Game 3: Oct. 15 at Cleveland or New York

Game 4: Oct. 16 at Cleveland or New York

Game 5: Oct. 18 at Cleveland or New York*

Game 6: Oct. 20 at Boston*

Game 7: Oct. 21 at Boston*

All games on Channel 11

( *if necessary)