Boston batters around old friend Pedro Martinez and the Mets en route to their 11th straight victory.

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

BY ART MARTONE
Journal Sports Editor

BOSTON -- The Atlanta Braves tried to stop them with John Smoltz. Couldn't do it. The Washington Nationals wheeled out Livan Hernandez. Nope. The Philadelphia Phillies turned to Brett Myers. Not happening.

Throughout their June romp through the National League East, the Red Sox had stomped on one staff ace after another as they piled up victory after victory.

Finally, last night, it seemed the Sox were going to come up against a No. 1 pitcher worthy of the number. You may remember him. Fellow named Martinez.

If Boston was going to notch consecutive win No. 11, it was going to have to do it against one of the game's greats on his emotional homecoming night before a sellout crowd, which was showering him with affectionate thanks for seven wonderful years. The type of occasion Pedro Martinez has always risen to.

Instead, it was the Red Sox who rose to the occasion . . . in spades.

Martinez was rocked for eight runs in the first three innings and was gone by the fourth as the Sox coasted to their 11th straight victory, 10-2 over the Mets. It wasn't the most dramatic of the 11 wins, or the most important, but -- because of the ease with which they dispatched Martinez -- it may have been the most surprising.

Or was it?

"I'm not surprised at anything we do anymore," said Josh Beckett, the beneficiary of the 10-hit attack who raised his record to 10-3.

"We've done a good job offensively throughout the streak," said manager Terry Francona, whose team has scored 87 runs in the 11 games. "Tonight we were patient, we made [Martinez] throw the ball over the plate and we hit it up the middle. We swung at strikes and we made him work."

Martinez' work started immediately. After Beckett retired the Mets in order in the first, Kevin Youkilis opened the bottom of the first with a single to center, and Mark Loretta followed with a single to right.

Ortiz then hit a one-hopper back to the mound, a perfect double-play ball that Martinez, by looking first to third base, was only able to manage an out at first. So instead of having a runner on third and two outs, the Sox had runners had second and third and one out. Thus, after a walk to Manny Ramirez, a fly ball to center by Trot Nixon gave Boston a 1-0 lead, instead of being the third out of the inning.

The damage was compounded when Jason Varitek singled to center, scoring Loretta. And then the damage was multiplied when Lastings Milledge -- who had misplayed a fly ball on Tuesday night -- twisted, turned, danced under and eventually dropped Mike Lowell's fly ball to the base of the wall in left, allowing two runs to score and giving the Sox a 4-0 lead.

"Pedro was in battle-mode after that," said Doug Mirabelli. "He knew he couldn't give up another run."

But that's exactly what he did in the third.

A double by Ramirez and a single by Nixon made it 5-0. But that wasn't all. Varitek moved Nixon to third with a single to right, and Nixon scored when Lowell grounded into a double play. But Martinez extended the inning by walking Coco Crisp, and Alex Gonzalez made it 8-0 with a homer to left.

When the inning ended, so did Martinez's night. Three innings, seven hits, eight runs (six earned), two walks and only one strikeout.

"Every once in a while you're going to have a stinker," said Mets manager Willie Randolph, "and this was one of them."

The Red Sox closed out their scoring against another of their former pitchers, Darren Oliver, in the sixth on an RBI single by Youkilis and a sacrifice fly by Ortiz.

Beckett, meanwhile, was more than up to the task of protecting a huge lead. He worked 7 2/3 innings and allowed five hits and only two runs, on solo home runs by Carlos Delgado (in the fourth) and Jose Valentin (in the seventh). He walked one and struck out seven, and the ovation he received when he was lifted with two on and two out in the eighth matched the one given to Martinez before the game.

"He's an excellent pitcher," said Randolph, "and he pitched real well."

"I think he's proven, at a young age, that the stage isn't too big for him," said Francona. "He used the adrenaline to his advantage."

Tonight the Sox go for their 12th straight win, a feat they haven't accomplished since 1995 (when they won the Eastern Division title in a walk). The ace they'll face tonight, Tom Glavine, has been even more accomplished than Martinez so far this season, with 11 wins and a 3.33 earned-run average.

The battle plan tonight? Same as it's been for the last 11.

"We show up every day, we catch the ball consistently, we've caught some breaks and we've made some breaks," said Francona. "Bottom line is, we're consistently giving ourselves a chance to win every night."

amartone@projo.com / (401) 277-7345