BOSTON -- On one of the coldest nights of his career, Pedro Martinez bounced right back from his worst outing ever.
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| Pedro Martinez allows just two hits in seven innings to get his first win of the season. (AP) |
"The conditions weren't favorable for anybody throwing the baseball," Boston catcher Jason Varitek said. "You're talking about one of the most competitive pitchers in baseball."
Several players wore hoods under their caps that left only their eyes and noses exposed to temperatures that dropped from a gametime 33 degrees. The wind was blowing at 15 mph when Martinez threw his first pitch to Carl Crawford, who flied out to center.
By the ninth inning, the temperature was 31 with a wind chill of 21.
"Tonight was the coldest I think I've played in," said Boston's Kevin Millar, who drove in two runs with his fourth homer and a single in the four-run sixth. "Once that wind kicks up, it bites you in the ear."
Despite that, Martinez was eager to come back from last Saturday's outing in which he allowed 10 runs, all earned, and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 13-6 loss to Baltimore. He was booed as he left the field.
Perhaps irked by that reaction, he declined to speak to reporters after Thursday's game.
"The guy's one of the best pitchers in baseball, year after year after year after year," Varitek said. "The guy has one bad outing and it's turned into something it's not."
In his other three appearances, Martinez (1-1) has allowed one earned run in 22 innings.
"I pulled off every pitch today because I was afraid of getting jammed," said Al Martin, 0-for-3 against Martinez before a ninth-inning single against Mike Timlin. "Once he gets you in that frame of mind, you've got no chance."
Martinez allowed just one runner to reach second base. He struck out three and walked three, five days after he was roughed up in Boston's home opener
But he dominated Thursday while Devil Rays starter Joe Kennedy (0-1) unraveled in the sixth as Boston improved to 6-1 this season against Tampa Bay.
"I had never pitched in anything below 50 degrees," Kennedy said. "My arm felt good and I had good life on my ball. I was just cold."
Timlin pitched the final two innings to finish the four-hitter as the Red Sox swept Tampa Bay for the ninth time in 26 series in the Devil Rays' six seasons.
Millar gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the fourth, they scored four runs on six hits in the sixth, and Doug Mirabelli added his first homer of the season in the eighth.
The only hits off Martinez were a two-out single by Aubrey Huff in the first and a one-out single by Marlon Anderson in the seventh.
In the first, Huff went to second when Ben Grieve walked before Martin fouled out to first baseman Shea Hillenbrand. In the seventh, Anderson was erased when Damion Easley hit into a double play.
"I've seen his velocity better," Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella said of Martinez. "Even when he doesn't have his real good fastball, he's very formidable."
Boston manager Grady Little said Martinez was motivated by his poor outing.
"This is a proud human being," Little said. "He got out there tonight on a mission, as he will probably every start the rest of the season."
Martinez's previous worst outing before Saturday was July 18, 1999, when he gave up nine runs to the Florida Marlins five days after being named MVP of the All-Star game. He went on the disabled list after that start.
Boston's rally in the sixth began with back-to-back doubles by Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez. Millar singled in Ramirez for a 3-0 lead. Hillenbrand then hit into a double play.
But Mirabelli and Bill Mueller singled before Varitek drove both home with a triple to straightaway center. Kennedy left and Mike Venafro got the last out of the inning.
Notes
- Mirabelli was 0-for-15 this season before his sixth-inning single.
- Rocco Baldelli's hitting streak ended at 13 games, a Tampa Bay rookie record.
- Varitek was in a 1-for-23 slump before going 2-for-4.
- Tampa Bay lost its 500th game in its six-year history.
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