Martinez Heats It Up for Red Sox

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays couldn’t do anything against Pedro Martinez, and neither could the weather.

Fighting 42-degree temperatures and intermittent rain, Martinez struck out 16 in eight innings at Fenway Park to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Devil Rays for his first win of the season.

“You just have to understand what’s happening to your body,” said Martinez, who recorded the first six outs on strikeouts and brought a no-hitter into the sixth. “It’s different. But the cold weather is affecting the hitters too.”

In his last start against Tampa Bay, on Aug. 29, Martinez came within three outs of a no-hitter and finished with a one-hitter. This time he gave up three hits, holding the Devil Rays hitless until Felix Martinez, the No. 9 hitter, lined a sharp single to center to lead off the sixth.

“He’s the best pitcher in baseball,” said the Devil Ray shortstop, who also had a bunt single in the eighth. “The weather didn’t help.”

Pedro Martinez, who is from the Dominican Republic, said his only adjustment was making sure he had warmed up enough before throwing the pitches that count. Sometimes when it’s warm, he said, he throws only four warmups between innings. Sunday, he threw 10 or 12.

“He’s from a warm-weather country and he’s out there pitching in this weather. He doesn’t figure that in,” Boston Manager Jimy Williams said. “He doesn’t think that it’s cold. It’s just his day to pitch.”

Martinez recorded six of the last seven outs on strikeouts before Derek Lowe, who had losses in his two previous outings, pitched the ninth for his first save.

“It was nice to walk off the field for the right reason,” Lowe said.

Albie Lopez gave up three runs, six hits, walked five and had a balk in seven innings. He struck out six. Tampa Bay has lost five in a row since beating Toronto in the season opener at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

New York 16, Toronto 5--The Yankees, who lost the first two games of the series at Yankee Stadium after opening with three wins over Kansas City, took a 12-0 lead in the third inning. The Blue Jays had gotten only 10 outs by the time every Yankee starter scored.

Jorge Posada hit a first-inning grand slam, the first of his career, Tino Martinez had three hits and four runs batted in and Derek Jeter got his first two RBIs of the season for the Yankees, who had 20 hits.

Roger Clemens (2-0) won for the 11th time in 13 decisions, holding Toronto to one hit in the first three innings. With a 12-run lead, his pitches became hittable, and he struggled through a five-run fourth before settling down.

Cleveland 4, Baltimore 3--C.C. Sabathia handled everyone in the Oriole lineup except Jeff Conine and got a no-decision in his major league debut at Jacobs Field.

Sabathia, 20, gave up a three-run homer to Conine in the first inning, but later showed off his 99-mph fastball. Facing a weak-hitting club batting only .176, he yielded three runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings, walked two and struck out three.

After giving up Conine’s homer, Sabathia, a 6-7 left-hander, held the Orioles to one hit over the next 5 1/3 scoreless innings.

Kansas City 15, Minnesota 4--Mark Quinn had a career-high five RBIs and A.J. Hinch’s three-run homer capped a seven-run third inning at Kansas City.

The Royals used three singles, three walks and Hinch’s homer in the third. After J.C. Romero walked in a run, Joe Randa had a two-run single and Quinn a run-scoring groundout before Hinch greeted reliever Hector Carrasco with the homer to give the Royals an 8-0 lead.

Romero gave up seven runs, five hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings. In his last 10 starts, Romero is 0-7 with a 9.07 earned-run average.

Texas 5, Seattle 4--Randy Velarde hit a solo homer with one out in the eighth inning at Arlington, Texas, as the Rangers avoided a three-game sweep.

Velarde, the only Ranger player with hits in each of the first six games, was not in the starting lineup, but entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh.

Alex Rodriguez, the former Mariner who signed a record $252-million, 10-year contract with Texas during the off-season, was hitless in two at-bats, but reached base three times (two walks, hit by pitch). He was four for 11 in the series and is eight for 27 (.296) this season.