The overheated anticipation of Martínez's return to Boston was no match for the methodical punishment inflicted upon him by the Sox. They were as dismissive of their former ace -- every Sox player except close friend David Ortiz reached base against Martínez -- as anyone else they've faced in the course of a winning streak that reached 11 last night with a 10-2 thrashing of the Mets, eight of those runs coming on Pedro's watch.
``Everything that's hyped can't live up to it," said center fielder Coco Crisp, who walked and scored ahead of Alex Gonzalez's two-run home run that made it 8-0 in the Sox' four-run third. ``Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. It's just the way life is, anyway."
Shocking? Not to Mets manager Willie Randolph, who grumbled that Martínez not only didn't have his best stuff, but got caught up in the emotion of the night.
``[And] not for this club, not the way we're going," Youkilis said on a night he had three hits and Gonzalez not only hit his second home run in two nights but also drew a walk for the first time in almost a month.
``We've been rolling pretty good, swinging the bats good, knocking pitchers out early," Youkilis said. ``It's definitely surprising when it's Pedro Martínez. You hope for his sake that he bounces back and throws well. Hopefully, we'll see him in the World Series and get to put another eight runs on the board."
The Sox, who are averaging 7.9 runs a game during this streak, have won 13 of 14 games against National League teams, including consecutive routs of the NL's purported best, while climbing a season-best 19 games over .500.
You want pitching? With Josh Beckett going 7 2/3 innings last night and allowing just five hits, including solo home runs to Carlos Delgado and Jose Valentin after the game was in hand, Sox starters are 8-0 with a 2.93 ERA during in the winning streak.
