FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Curt Schilling struggled with the heat, the wind and the Twins in his first spring training appearance against a major league team.

Schilling allowed three runs and five hits in 3 2-3 innings Friday during Minnesota’s 5-1 win over the Boston Red Sox. He said he “pitched very poorly” in a game he had anticipated for some time – his first since the World Series.

“This has been a day I’ve been looking forward to since November and I was a little spent this morning getting ready for this game,” said Schilling, who underwent ankle surgery in November but said his arm and ankle feel fine.

He’s expected to make one more spring appearance in a minor league game, then go on the disabled list and pitch April 7 for Triple-A Pawtucket at Indianapolis. His only other exhibition action came last Monday when he threw three innings in a minor league game.

On Friday, he allowed homers on consecutive pitches to Jacque Jones and Michael Restovich in the fourth, giving the Twins a 3-1 lead.

“The way the wind’s blowing today, one thing you don’t want to do is put a ball up in the air in left field, and the second homer he was out in front. It looked like he one-handed the ball,” Schilling said.

He threw 66 pitches, 40 for strikes, and left to a standing ovation with two outs in the fourth. He tipped his cap to fans in both the left field and right-field stands.

“If it wasn’t 4,000 degrees, I probably could have stayed in and thrown a little bit more. I certainly didn’t feel like I was tired from pitching,” Schilling said.

Twins starter Brad Radke didn’t mind the heat and went six innings, allowing one run and five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

“It was humid,” he said. “I kind of like it when it’s warm out there. You get a good lather up and it keeps you loose.”

It was Radke’s fifth and best start of the spring. He entered 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA. Relievers Terry Mulholland, Joe Nathan and Glen Perkins each pitched one shutout inning.

Boston took a 1-0 lead in the first on David Ortiz’s double following an error by shortstop Jason Bartlett that put Manny Ramirez on second base. Minnesota tied it in the second on a double by Restovich and a run-scoring single by Corky Miller.

With one out in the fourth, Jones hit Schilling’s 3-2 pitch over the left-field fence for his first exhibition homer. Restovich connected on the next pitch for his first homer. Two batters later, Schilling was replaced by Mike Timlin.

“I thought it was a resounding success,” manager Terry Francona said of Schilling’s outing. “He made pretty good pitches for the most part. He’s still in an early spring training mode.”

Schilling was pleased that he felt fine physically and doesn’t think his struggles changed the timetable for him to pitch in the regular season, now expected by mid-April.

“It’s been disappointing, frustrating, but that’s behind me now,” he said. “I’m back and a part of the team and I’m getting ready for the season just a little bit later than the rest of the guys.”

Reliever Keith Foulke’s numbers weren’t very good, either. He allowed two runs and two hits in one inning after giving up just one hit and no runs in his other 5 1-3 innings this spring.

Those runs came in the sixth when Michael Cuddyer hit Foulke’s first pitch for his third exhibition homer, and Miller hit an RBI double.

Notes: Trot Nixon will bat second for Boston this season. Mark Bellhorn, who filled that spot much of last year, will spend most of his time batting ninth. Edgar Renteria, another potential No. 2 hitter, will hit mostly fifth and sixth. … Bartlett went 2-for-2, is batting .421 and has emerged as the front-runner to succeed shortstop Cristian Guzman, who signed as a free agent with Washington. … Timlin was fine after getting his foot stepped on while covering first base.

AP-ES-03-25-05 1924EST