CLEVELAND - Pedro Martinez couldn't complain about a thing.
Boston's ace dominated the Indians again, settling in after a shaky start to pitch seven strong innings and lead the Red Sox to a 5-2 win Thursday night.
Martinez gave up four hits, three in the first inning, and improved to 11-1 in 15 career starts against the Indians. He's 6-0 at Jacobs Field.
Martinez made his second appearance since publicly criticizing Boston's front office, cutting off contract talks with the Red Sox and declaring he would explore free agency after the season.
The next day, he was hammered for six runs and nine hits in four innings during a loss to Texas. This one didn't start much better for the three-time Cy Young Award winner, who fell behind 2-0 in the first.
But Cleveland did little after that, putting five runners on and getting one to third. Martinez walked three and struck out eight.
With his 105th victory for Boston, Martinez tied Hall of Famer Lefty Grove for eighth on the club's career list.
Manny Ramirez homered in the sixth off C.C. Sabathia and Pokey Reese hit a go-ahead double in the seventh as the Red Sox won their second straight to split the four-game series.
A'S 7, YANKEES 4: Rich Harden struck out nine in his first win of the season, and Oakland snapped New York's eight-game winning streak.
Mark Kotsay matched his career high with four RBIs, helping the A's avoid their first three-game sweep by the Yankees in Oakland since May 31-June 2, 1996. Erubiel Durazo went 3-for-3 with a homer. The A's had lost nine of 11 and three straight.
Harden, 22, a right-hander making his first appearance against the Yankees, fell behind 4-0 on five straight hits in the second, then settled down and held one of baseball's best lineups in check.
Freddy Garcia got his first win of the season in his sixth start, and host Seattle scrapped its way to victory.
Garcia outpitched Tampa's Brad Radke in another fine performance and finally got something to show for it. The right-hander pitched seven strong innings, holding Minnesota to one run on six hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.
Through his first five starts, Garcia had received seven runs of support, but he improved to 4-0 lifetime against the Twins.
