FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield pitched against each other for 5 1-2 innings Wednesday, a matchup of outstanding veterans.

The crowd, though, was quiet. And there were only about 40 fans watching.

Odd for two pitchers with a combined 336 major league wins?

Not really, since it was just an intrasquad game with minor leaguers designed for the pitchers to get their work in while Boston played an exhibition game against Baltimore in Fort Lauderdale.

“I was very strong. I could have gone a lot longer,’ Schilling said. “I threw a lot of good curveballs. I’m throwing my changeup. It’s to the point now where it’s going to be a pitch I’m going to use in a game to get people out with.”

For the third straight outing, he also worked on his inside pitches, something he hasn’t relied on much in his career since his outside fastball has been so effective. And for the first time in those outings, he didn’t hit a batter in the head.

At age 39 – and with, he said, no problems with the right ankle that hampered his 2005 season – he’s trying to develop both an inside pitch and a changeup, but he said he’s not reinventing himself.

“The fastball away is still my staple pitch and the split is still my No. 2 pitch,” Schilling said. “But if you can add those things to what I feel like is an already pretty good repertoire, then I think you become better.

“I’m supposed to not get better now. I’m supposed to get older and start to decline. I don’t see that. I see the exact opposite.”

In six innings, Schilling threw 80 pitches, 58 for strikes. He faced 24 batters and allowed no runs, one walk and four singles while striking out six. His next-to-last pitch was clocked at 91 mph. “In the past, it’s always been whatever you have in March, you add three to four mph in April,’ he said. “I’m comfortable where I’m at.”

He’s rarely used the changeup in the past but said he’s confident that “there’s going to be days when it’s going to win games for me. There’s no question in my mind. Again, there were days when (Pedro Martinez) would never throw it, but he would get people out because he had it. That’s the point I want to get it to.”

Last Saturday, Schilling beaned Pittsburgh’s Chris Duffy. In his previous outing in another minor-league game, he hit Red Sox farmhand Jeff Natale in the head. The closest he came to hitting a batter Wednesday was with a pitch that nearly grazed the uniform. “People are making a big deal about him throwing inside,” said catcher Josh Bard, who handled both starters but didn’t get to bat. “He’s working hard at it and he’s showing confidence.”

Wakefield still relies on his old standby, the knuckler, and Bard is getting used to catching it. Doug Mirabelli, who had been Wakefield’s personal catcher, was traded to San Diego in the offseason.

“I’m learning every day,” Bard said. “He’s been a joy to work with.”

Wakefield threw about 65 pitches, most of them knucklers.

“I felt strong today,” he said. “I felt like I could have gone longer.”

Bard also might have been able to, but handling more than 140 pitches in steamy weather without taking his gear off was an accomplishment.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought,” he said. The pitchers “threw strikes. They got ground balls. There weren’t really any innings were they were really laboring.”

The more that happens in the regular season, the better the chances the Red Sox will have of putting together a winning streak since Wakefield, who threw one pitch at 61 mph Wednesday, will follow Schilling, who can throw more than 30 mph faster, in the rotation.

“That’s the plan. It’s worked before between Pedro and Schilling and myself,” Wakefield said. “You’d have to ask hitters if it really makes a difference, but I think if you get in a three-game series with Schilling, myself and (Josh) Beckett, that kind of contrast, I think chances are pretty good if we all have our A’ games that day.”

AP-ES-03-15-06 2022EST