BOSTON --
The conditions -- miserable, raw and soggy -- were the same for both teams yesterday at Fenway Park. Each had to contend with an outfield that, despite the best efforts of the grounds crew, closely resembled a swamp. Each had to fend off temperatures that began in the low 40s and dropped to near-freezing by the game's conclusion.
But only the Seattle Mariners had to face Pedro Martinez. They probably would have preferred 40 days and nights of rain rather than one more matchup with the Red Sox ace.
Right from the first inning, Martinez took full advantage of the conditions and thus, the Mariners. He needed just nine pitches -- the Mariners made contact with just one -- to strike out the side. From there, the rest of the afternoon was a mere formality.
"He's going to be tough if it's 80 degrees out or 40," said Seattle outfielder Mark McLemore.
"He set the tone in the first inning," said Trot Nixon. "It was a terrible day to play."
Of course, for the Mariners, there are no good days to face Martinez. In defeating Seattle 4-1 yesterday, Martinez ran his career record to 10-0 against the Mariners with an ERA of 0.94.
In the last week alone, Martinez has allowed 2 runs in 16 innings while striking out 21 and walking just 3. Not coincidentally, those two games represent the only wins against Seattle for the Red Sox this season.
Both Martinez and the Mariners are at a loss to explain his complete dominance of them. After all, as catcher Jason Varitek, the Mariners in 2002 hardly resemble the Mariners of, say, three years ago, when the lineup featured Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Jay Buhner, but not Carlos Guillen, Bret Boone or Ichiro Suzuki.
In fact, only Edgar Martinez was with the Mariners when Pedro Martinez began his reign over the Mariners and the veteran DH has missed both matchups this season.
"He dominates a lot of people," Grady Little said. "and they just happen to be somebody [he dominates] pretty regularly. That's a good ballclub and he's a good pitcher. He threw the ball well the other day in Seattle and today was not much different than that."
Martinez yielded a leadoff homer to Ruben Sierra in the fourth, but thereafter, the Mariners got only one baserunner as far as second base. Martinez, 6-0, retired 13 of the next 17 hitters he faced before Ugueth Urbina took control of the ninth for his 13th save.
"Those were very, very difficult conditions," said Martinez. "It was awful cold. I don't recall one day being worse than this one."
The Red Sox made it a little more comfortable for him when they got an RBI-double from Nomar Garciaparra and a run-scoring single from Brian Daubach for a 2-0 lead in the first.
"That was huge," said Martinez of the early backing. "As soon as we scored the first run, I said, 'You know what, this might be it, this might be the only run I need to win this ballgame.' But getting the second one saved the day because I gave up a bomb later."
A solo homer into the right-field box seats by Nixon to open the second seemed to clinch the outcome. Just for good measure, the Sox tacked on another run in the fifth on a walk to Garciaparra, a two-out single by Shea Hillenbrand and single up the middle from Carlos Baerga.
From there, it was left to Martinez to methodically carve through the Seattle lineup and hand the Mariners just their fourth road loss in 21 tries this season.
"He had good command of his fastball right from the beginning," said Varitek. "It took a while, until later in the game, before he had a good feel for his curveball."
At this point, Martinez seems capable of beating the Mariners with knuckleballs and screwballs, two pitches not in his repertiore. He exhibited pinpoint control, throwing 74 percent of his pitches for strikes.
"I just go out there and try my best," shrugged Martinez. "Respecting every one of them, I just try to do the best I can to win the ballgame, and thank God I've always had the support of my teammates who always seem to be right on top of their game at the time we've played them and I'm pitching."
