BALTIMORE -- Perhaps Mike Bordick's wordless post-strikeout reaction offered the loudest rave review of Pedro Martinez's brilliant one-hit, 10-strikeout seven-inning performance in Boston's 7-0 victory over Baltimore yesterday at Camden Yards.
Bordick took the first two pitches of that fifth-inning at-bat for strikes, gazing at a 93-mph fastball and then an 83-mph cutter that sliced over the outside edge of the plate.
Martinez missed with a fastball and two changeups, running the count full. Bordick geared up for a sizzling 3-and-2 fastball.
He got a curveball, a sharp 77-mph breaking ball that buckled Bordick's knees, paralyzing him as he watched, mesmerized, as the pitch caught the plate for strike three.
The veteran shortstop flipped his bat away, pulled off his helmet and tossed that, too, shaking his head.
Unfair. No chance. That's what Bordick's body language screamed.
In other words, vintage Pedro Martinez.
Martinez had it all going for him yesterday. The blazing fastball, topping out at 95 mph, but consistently at 93 and 94. The unhittable curveball. The elusive slider. And he mixed in some cutters, as if he needed another quality pitch.
He had perfect-game stuff. He didn't get it, allowing a leadoff walk to Jerry Hairston in the fourth. He also hit Brook Fordyce with a breaking ball that slipped out of his hand leading off the sixth. And the no-hitter disappeared three batters later, when Gary Matthews Jr. lined a high changeup to right for the only hit that Martinez would surrender.
But it still was a virtuoso performance.
Best of all, this was the second straight start for Martinez in which he has looked like his old, dominant self. He seemingly has quieted doubts, including his own, that he can once again be one of the most overpowering pitchers in the game, putting aside fears left over from last year's rotator cuff woes.
In two starts on this trip, Martinez has allowed only two hits. He was nicked for only a fourth-inning bloop single by Kansas City's Mike Sweeney in eight innings in beating the Royals, 4-0, last Friday night.
Over his last 181/3 innings, Martinez has given up only two hits, the singles to Sweeney and Matthews. And over that span, he has whiffed 22.
There is less guesswork when Martinez pitches now. His appearance on the mound settles his teammates, and yesterday he fulfilled his role as Boston's stopper, snapping a two-game losing streak and enabling the Red Sox to salvage the final game of the three-game set here.
"If there were any doubters, he's probably killing off a few," said manager Grady Little.
"Any time you haven't gotten the bounces and you've lost a couple of games, when he takes the mound, you like your chances," added first baseman Tony Clark.
As for Martinez, despite his last two superb outings, he isn't about to claim he'll be the same pitcher who went 23-4 with a 2.07 earned-run average in 1999 and 18-6 with a 1.74 E.R.A. in 2000, winning the Cy Young Award each season.
"This season is still early," said Martinez, who boosted his record to 3-0 and lowered his E.R.A. to 3.38. "So far, this is a year to wonder, to find out about things I've never experienced. One or two outings, or five to 10, it's not going to dictate how I'll finish. Everyone has to be patient until the end of the season to see. Every day is a new adventure. I'm still in wonderland if anyone would like to join me.
"When they showed me my MRI (of the frayed right rotator cuff) last year, I was looking at being 30 years old and my career was this close to being over," said Martinez, holding two fingers an inch apart.
"Games like these last two, coming off what I went through, it's a plus," said Martinez. "I enjoy every little piece of what I do out there. I'm making adjustments. Just being able to pitch is a plus."
Martinez's seven-inning stint was amply supported by the offense. Brian Daubach lofted a sacrifice fly in the second, and a solo homer by Trot Nixon (3-for-4) and Nomar Garciaparra's RBI fielder's-choice grounder made it 3-0 in the third at the expense of Baltimore starter Calvin Maduro.
That was plenty, but the Sox piled it on, getting a two-run single from Manny Ramirez in the fifth and adding a pair of runs in the sixth, with Rey Sanchez (single) and Johnny Damon (sacrifice fly) each delivering a run.
But it was the Pedro Martinez Show, and it keeps getting better. Clark, who did his best trying to hit against Martinez while he was with the Tigers, enjoys playing defense behind him a lot more. And he has been impressed with Martinez's progression in his five starts.
"Early, he wasn't settled in. But he's settled in now. All you have to do is watch him. He's comfortable. His location is there. Any time he's able to put the ball where he wants to, it's going to be a long day for the hitters.
"He seems to be getting better every year," added Clark. "It's not just his velocity. It's not just his stuff. He's got an incredible mastery of the game -- what he wants to do and the experience to go with the stuff he has. When you're standing behind him, you can really appreciate it."
While Martinez remains a work in progress in his own mind, his last two starts have rekindled visions of his game-after-game dominance.
"I'm a fan when all our pitchers pitch," said Little, "but when he's pitching like he is right now, he's fun to watch. I started looking forward to the next time he pitches right after this game was over."
