Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
After a hittable start, Martinez settles into his usual dominating form for Boston. Tampa Bay succumbs 8-3.
By BRUCE LOWITT
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 20, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- It took an inning for Pedro Martinez to warm up. After that, the Rays' run-production turned as cold as a Boston winter against his abbreviated 13-strikeout performance.
The Red Sox ace gave up Tampa Bay's first earned run off him in 18 innings during its two-run first. And until manager Jimy Williams pulled Martinez two batters into the seventh inning, that was about it for the Rays offense in their 8-3 loss Thursday night to the defending (and three-time) Cy Young Award winner.
"We had Pedro on the ropes early," Rays manager Hal McRae said. "I thought we had a chance to score some runs but we were unable to deliver the knockout punch. ... Normally if you score three runs against Pedro you've done a pretty good job and you hope three runs will beat (the Red Sox)."
If there are moral victories, the Rays won a small one. Their nine hits off Martinez were the most he has given up since the Marlins got 12 on July 18, 1999. He never allowed more than eight last season.
Martinez struck out one batter in the first inning.
He struck out two in the second.
He struck out the side in the third. And the fourth. And the sixth.
"He wasn't up to speed when the game started," McRae said, "but you could gradually see him hit his stride and when he did I thought it was all over."
And in the fifth inning, when the Rays had a chance to cut into Boston's four-run lead, Russ Johnson "ran us out of the inning," McRae said.
With two outs, Johnson singled to leftfield. When Greg Vaughn doubled down the leftfield line Johnson tore around third, ran through coach Terry Collins' stop sign and was easily gunned down by shortstop Craig Grebeck's throw to catcher Jason Varitek.
"He saw the ball was going to be off line and thought it was going to be over the relay man's head," Collins said. "It was an error of enthusiasm. ... He's trying to be aggressive on the bases, which we've asked him to do. He just made a bit of a mistake. It happens." When John Flaherty led off the Rays seventh with a double and Felix Martinez sent him home with a single under Martinez's glove on his 107th pitch, Williams trudged to the mound and sent his ace to the showers. The cheers for Martinez by many in the crowd of 22,026 were liberally sprinkled with boos for his manager.
So McRae will have to wait at least one more night for his first win as the Rays manager. With the Red Sox gone, he has a better shot at it. Tampa Bay was the victim of a three-game sweep by the Red Sox for the second time in two weeks, and has lost four in a row.
Given a three-run lead before the Rays got to bat, it could have been assumed the game was technically over, considering the 16-strikeout shutout Martinez threw at them Sunday at Fenway Park.
But the Rays weren't quite ready to quit.
Gerald Williams was safe when Grebeck's throw pulled Brian Daubach off first base. Johnson singled Williams to third and he scored on Vaughn's fielder's choice. Fred McGriff's double then drove in Vaughn with the Rays' first earned run off Martinez in 18 innings, dating to an Aug. 14 Miguel Cairo home run.
That left the Rays one run down. But in the third inning the Red Sox doubled their output against Paul Wilson. He walked Manny Ramirez, whose single drove in a pair of runs in the first, and Troy O'Leary.
Varitek's double scored Ramirez and Shea Hillenbrand's double made it 6-2.
Martinez, meanwhile, was making the Rays look helpless. They swung at pitches that were past them. They swung at pitches that were nowhere near them. And when they weren't swinging, Martinez was freezing their bats and buckling their knees with breaking balls that were downright unfair.
Wilson was gone after three innings. "You put guys on base, they're going to score," he said. "I dug myself a hole tonight. I'm struggling with my command."
A parade of relievers, including just-promoted rookie right-hander Travis Phelps, was impressive until Doug Creek took his turn in the eighth inning.
With Hillenbrand on first, Creek had Daubach ducking under a pitch at his head. The next one hit the rightfield foul pole for a two-run homer. "That's what you call good aim," Williams said.