Curt Schilling walked to the mound Sunday night with an ailing ankle on his right leg and the hopes of eight decades of Red Sox fans on his back.

Standing on the right side of the pitching rubber, trying to throw as normally as he could, he shook off the pain and stomped all over the Cardinals, pitching the Red Sox to a 6-2 victory that sent them to St. Louis with a 2-0 World Series lead.

Where would the Red Sox be if Schilling's damaged ankle tendon hadn't been stitched down by team physician Dr. Bill Morgan? Probably where they usually are this time of year - watching the New York Yankees on television.

Instead, the Red Sox are two wins from their first Series title since 1918.

And Schilling is two Boston victories from the largest bonus windfall in baseball history: If the Red Sox win the World Series, his 2005 salary increases from $12.5 million to $14.5 million, and a $13 million club option in 2007 becomes guaranteed.

When the Red Sox lost the first three games of the AL championship series to the Yankees, and Schilling was knocked out of the opener after three innings, it seemed Schilling's season could be over.

Then the Red Sox medical staff came up with a medical procedure to give him another chance.

"We were out of options," Schilling said Saturday. "When they signed off on it, we really had no other choice."

Sure, Schilling speaks his mind. There was that stuff about "aura and mystique" during Arizona's World Series win over the Yankees three years ago, and his desire earlier this month to "shut up" 55,000 New Yorkers. He calls radio talk shows and pontificates on the Internet.

But he also has a big heart.

Without his best stuff, he held the Yankees to one run and four hits over seven innings Tuesday night, allowing Boston to tie the ALCS at three games apiece.

His velocity still inconsistent at times, Schilling was even sharper Sunday, setting up a devastating splitter when he needed it. He gave up just four hits and an unearned run in six innings, got the important outs he needed to, holding St. Louis to 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Schilling has a torn tendon sheath in his ankle, and the suture was put in for the second time Saturday. He's been given painkillers and antibiotics to fight infection.

"He's more uncomfortable because it's the second time around," Morgan said. "The line may be drawn there, depending on how he looks over the next five days."

Schilling improved his World Series record to 3-1 and his postseason mark to 8-2. But on Saturday, before the Series began, he admitted that some of what he shows is false bravado.

"Don't kid yourself, I'm terrified," he said. "That's part of the motivation, the fear of failure. I always felt good players use the fear of failure in a positive way."

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