BOSTON – Curt Schilling won’t pitch Sunday, or maybe for the duration, because of a subluxation in the sheath that holds his right ankle tendons. So they’re bringing in the sheaths for the Sox for an 86th straight year, no rejoicing here for sure, down 2-0.

It’s true, if the Yankees keep getting lights-out starts as they did from Mike Mussina and Jon Lieber in Games 1 and 2, darkness will descend upon New England before the weekend is over. But good luck to them on that, when up next is Kevin Brown, the Master of Masochism who has stretched it out only to six innings in three starts since he hit the wall, then El Dubious Hernandez and his fatigued shoulder.

It will be a long way between the five or six innings that Torre hopes to get from them and what the manager knows he will from Mariano Rivera. Almost as long, in fact, as is this series from being over.

After Jason Varitek doubled, Tom Gordon got the next two outs in Game 2, better than Game One, when he scared Yankeedom to death by all-but surrendering the last vestiges of an 8-0 lead. No wonder Torre didn’t wait to go to Rivera for the last out in the eighth for the second consecutive night, which may be why the Yankee manager, who yesterday danced a little around Gordon’s ineffectiveness (four hits, eight batters), may be doing some rain dancing, hoping to get Rivera an extra day’s blow.

The forecast is not good for Friday. But neither is it for the Sox to continue hitting like the Mets. The sixth, seventh, and eighth-innings will tell the story, not likely to be a short one.

The Yankees don’t have a reliable lefty to face Trot Nixon or David Ortiz in a big spot, we knew that going in. Gordon does not have a great postseason history (eight hits and seven runs in seven innings previous to this fall), we knew that going in, too. What we don’t know is whatever became of Paul Quantrill, other than Tanyon Sturtze becoming Torre’s first choice in seventh innings.

“I have no problem using Quantrill,” said Torre, who obviously does after the veteran struggled the final two months. “You get in a situation like [Game 2] with men on base, Gordon is the name that pops up.

“It looked to me a little jumpy last night. He got two important outs but made a bad pitch to a guy who hits bad pitches [Varitek] for sure, a slider hung in the eyes.

“I can’t tell him not to get overexcited, it’s an exciting time of year. Flash is intelligent enough to understand you make adjustments. . . . Emotions, you have to fight through.”

That goes for both sides. Since Mike Timlin gave up that grand slam to Vladimir Guerrero that set up the set-up man for nomination into the Red Sox Hall of Infamy (lots of floor space there), he has retired only four of eight batters and said profane, angry things into the lens of a prying Fox cameraman after coming out of Game 2.

Usually, when they feel their privacy has been invaded, it’s actually their confidence. And when that goes, so does the faith of the manager, often followed by the manager himself.

The Red Sox went down last year when Grady Little decided to trust a tired Pedro Martinez more than a bullpen that had been doing surprisingly good work. The Twins failed last week when Joe Nathan went a third inning in Game 1 of the ALDS and Juan Rincon pitched one inning that seemed like three in Game 4. Manager Ron Gardenhire, accused of not thinking deeply, didn’t have the depth to be smart.

The better bullpen wins most series. Just a hunch that the only twist left in this one isn’t Terry Francona in the wind.