01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 29, 2006

BOSTON -- What do I do with the ball if it's hit to me?

That's the question Little Leaguers are instructed to ask themselves before each pitch as they stand in the field.

Pedro Martinez, apparently, forgot to ask himself that question in the first inning and his mental lapse ultimately cost him four runs, putting him and the Mets in a quick 4-0 hole, from which they never recovered.

David Ortiz ripped a one-hop comebacker at the Mets' ace right-hander with runners at first and second and none out. Martinez's best play would have been to throw to second base. And, if his throw there was halfway decent, he would have started an easy double play on the slow-moving Ortiz.

Instead, Martinez's first instinct was to throw to third base, but third baseman David Wright had been swung over toward shortstop in the shift on Ortiz, so he wasn't at the bag.

Then Martinez turned toward second, but opted not to take a chance on trying for the forceout there. His only option was to throw to first, leaving two runners in scoring position.

And the Sox cashed in the extra out for four runs on a sacrifice fly by Trot Nixon, an RBI single by Jason Varitek and a two-base fielding error by left fielder Lastings Milledge.

Lastings images

Two nights in left field at Fenway Park, two embarrassing moments for Milledge.

Last night, Milledge drifted back to the fence, looking unsteady, on Mike Lowell's high fly ball with two on and two outs in the first inning.

As he neared the wall he reached up for the ball, which was about at eye level. The ball clanged off the heel of his glove and dropped onto the warning track, handing the Red Sox two gift runs.

In the second, Milledge didn't get a good read on Kevin Youkilis's fly ball to shallow left-center, forcing center fielder Carlos Beltran to make an outstanding diving catch on what should have been a relatively play.

When Milledge went back to the warning track and caught a fly ball hit by Lowell just in front of the wall in the fifth he was given a derisive cheer by the fans.

Guess again, Part I

The first 13 pitches from Josh Beckett were fastballs, and most of them in the 94- to 97-mph range. On his sixth pitch, on a 2-and-2 count to Mets cleanup hitter Carlos Delgado in the second inning, Beckett threw a changeup that badly fooled Delgado, who waved and missed it for a strikeout.

Tit for tat?

Martinez has had the reputation, deserved or not, of being a headhunter in his big-league career. He generally is among the league leaders in hit batsmen, though this year he wasn't even in the top ten in the National League, having plunked five batters in 98 innings before last night's start.

But Martinez drilled Mark Loretta on the back of the left hand with two outs, none on and an 0-and-2 count on Loretta in the second inning, with the Mets already trailing, 4-0. It was a four-seam fastball that sailed in on Loretta. Did he hit Loretta on purpose?

The Sox must have thought so. Beckett seemingly had a response in the top of the third, throwing a 1-and-1 fastball up and in to Ramon Castro. The ball wasn't close to Castro's head, but it sailed to the backstop.

In the sixth, Beckett threw a fastball that sailed in and hit Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca, Beckett's batterymate on the Marlins, on the hand. Loretta and Lo Duca each bat second in their respective lineups. Payback? One number two hitter for another? It hardly seemed to be the case given the Sox were comfortably on top, 8-1, and the drama and intensity had long gone out of the contest.

Something to see

Boston shortstop Alex Gonzalez is always a pleasure to watch in the field because of his considerable defensive skills.

The Mets have a great young shortstop, too, in Jose Reyes, who started an eye-popping double play in the third. He went diving to his left for Lowell's grounder up the middle. He gloved it as he slid on his stomach.

Then, still from the prone position, he flipped the ball from his glove to second baseman Jose Valentin, who turned the double play.

Guess again, Part II

When is an 86-mph fastball overpowering?

When the hitter is expecting something offspeed.

That's what happened in the fourth when New York left-hander Darren Oliver whiffed David Ortiz.

Oliver got ahead of Ortiz at 1 and 2 on curveballs. Ortiz waved feebly at the 1-and-1 breaking ball. But with Ortiz looking for another curve, Oliver fired in his best fastball, at 86 mph, Ortiz couldn't catch up to it, starting his swing late because he was expecting a slower pitch.

Ortiz, though, extracted a measure of revenge in his next at-bat against Oliver, lofting a sacrifice fly to center for his 69th RBI, tops in the league.

skrasner@projo.com / (401) 277-7340