"The way John Smoltz sees it, his return from shoulder surgery can be charted along a continuum.

Right now, he's still on the part marked "process," but within a couple of starts, he hopes to shift to "results."

Smoltz makes his Fenway Park debut as a member of the Red Sox [team stats] tonight against the Oakland A's and he's determined not to let the emotion of the moment distract him from his ultimate goal of making a "second-half surge."

"This is about continuing the process," Smoltz said. "I've got to be more concerned with my process than my outcome. If I'm consumed with my outcome, I'm going to be a little bit in trouble."

Smoltz lost his first start in Washington against the Nationals before bouncing back with four innings of one-run ball against the Orioles. He was cruising toward victory before being knocked out by a lengthy rain delay in Baltimore.

The right-hander figures he'll need five starts or so before he can shift his attention from the process of coming back to the expectation of results.

"It's been a year and change since I've been real comfortable," he said. "I've always said five to seven, one-fifth of the starts that you typically make, but I think three to five (starts) is fair."

Smoltz is also anxious to see how his arm responds once he begins pitching every five days. That will be the real test of how strong he can expect to be down the stretch.

"Hit a gap at the All-Star break, then kick it right back in," Smoltz said. "The second-half surge is something I'll be looking forward to making.""