Schilling closer experiment over

NOTES

Curt Schilling will return to the starting rotation Thursday night after an inconsistent stint as Boston’s closer.

“We’ve wanted all along to get him back in the rotation,” manager Terry Francona said Saturday before the Red Sox played the Los Angeles Angels.

Schilling will start in Kansas City on Thursday.

As a starter, Schilling helped the Red Sox win their first World Series title in 86 years last season. The right ankle he injured, which required off-season surgery, hasn’t hindered him for some time. But after spending nearly three months on the disabled list, he’s been erratic as a closer.

Cameron discusses injury

Injured right fielder Mike Cameron expects to miss the rest of the New York Mets’ season while he recovers from a violent collision with teammate Carlos Beltran.

Cameron said he was unable to breathe or talk for a few moments after colliding with Beltran in the outfield on Aug. 11 in San Diego.

“I don’t remember too much,” Cameron said in a telephone interview. “I was out of it for a minute. I couldn’t breathe because I had blood coming out of my nose and my mouth at the same time. That was my main concern. Breathing, breathing. After that, I figured something was wrong because I couldn’t really function that well.”

Cameron broke both cheekbones and his nose in the collision and underwent surgery in San Diego. He also has a mild concussion and was placed on the disabled list.

Devine drops debut

Joey Devine was one pitch away from a memorable big league debut. Then Xavier Nady made it a day to forget.

Nady hit his first career grand slam off Devine with two outs in the 13th inning of the San Diego Padres’ 7-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.

Devine, the Braves’ first-round pick in the June draft, was called up from Double-A Mississippi, took an early morning flight to Atlanta and got into his first game on 45 minutes sleep.