Not this time. In a crazy game that started splendidly and ended miserably for Martinez, he succumbed to some timely hitting by the O's and some wacky defensive twists in the Sox outfield in a 10-5 defeat before 35,023 in the opener of a six-game homestand at Fenway Park.
"Say, `Pedro gave it up today,' that's pretty much it," Martinez said after he lost for the first time in 11 outings since May 16. "Pedro got shelled."
Not so fast. The loss not only turned on a particularly rough night for center fielder Johnny Damon but on the inability of the Sox to flash the trademark resiliency they rode last year to the playoffs. The latter issue particularly troubled a couple of players.
"I think we need to battle a little bit harder," said Gabe Kapler, who hammered a three-run homer and made a dandy defensive play in right field amid the futility. "I think we've had a couple of instances recently where we've gotten behind in a game and have become semi-lifeless, and I think it's important that we show a little amount of tenacity right now."
Damon's ordeal included letting Miguel Tejada's line drive whistle past him in the fourth inning for a two-run triple and figuring in a bizarre defensive sequence in the seventh inning that enabled David Newhan's two-run, inside-the-park homer, which effectively put the game out of reach. "It was just tough breaks out there," Damon said. "Anything that could go wrong went wrong."
Damon had little help on Newhan's drive as left fielder Manny Ramirez inexplicably cut off Damon's relay to Bellhorn, giving Newhan extra time to round the bases. Ramirez fired the ball to Bellhorn, whose throw to the plate arrived far too late, allowing the Orioles to seize an 8-4 lead.
"Manny jumps and makes a highlight catch," Damon said. "Unfortunately, it was an embarrassing one for me and him."
Martinez was far from sharp, despite retiring the first 10 batters, six on strikes. In all, he surrendered eight runs on nine hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings, spoiling his bid for his seventh win in as many decisions as he dropped to 10-4 with a 4.01 ERA.
