Martinez on Familiar Ground in Near No-Hitter

Pedro Martinez has been close enough to a no-hitter to have an idea what one feels like.

“I never put that in my mind,” he said Wednesday night in New York, where he threw a two-hitter at the Mets in Montreal’s 4-0 victory in the first game of a doubleheader.

“I’ve had some bad experiences--the perfect game, especially the first one.”

Martinez pitched nine perfect innings last June 3 at San Diego, but lost his perfect game and a no-hitter when Bip Roberts doubled leading off the 10th.

On April 13, 1994, Martinez had a perfect game for 7 1/3 innings against Cincinnati before hitting Reggie Sanders with a pitch. Sanders charged the mound, and Brian Dorsett broke up the no-hit bid with a single in the ninth.

Since then, Martinez tries not to think about no-hitters, but others think about them a lot.

“Whenever Pedro pitches, there’s a possibility of a no-hitter,” Expo Manager Felipe Alou said.

“Someday it’s going to happen, but I can’t be expecting it,” Martinez said.

Martinez (3-1) struck out eight and walked three in his first complete game this season. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but Kevin Roberson broke it up with a single.

Though he didn’t have a perfect game against the Mets, his record remained perfect against New York: 8-0 with a 0.94 earned-run average.

Henry Rodriguez hit a three-run homer, his 10th of the season. He was pumped a bit because he lives in New York.

“Friends, family, everybody’s here,” he said. “I’ve got 40 people out there.”

In the second game, Jason Isringhausen (2-2) gave up four hits in eight innings to win for the first time in four starts, helping the Mets to a 6-0 victory. New York has won eight of 12, and Montreal has won nine of 12.

San Diego 9, San Francisco 4--The Padres, last in the major leagues with only 13 homers coming into the game, got home runs from Steve Finley, Rickey Henderson, Andujar Cedeno and Ken Caminiti at San Diego.

Fernando Valenzuela (1-1) gave up eight hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings. The hits included Barry Bonds’ 12th homer of the season and Rich Aurilia’s solo shot.

Chicago 9, St. Louis 3--Ryne Sandberg, back after a week off because of ear problems, celebrated the first month of his comeback by hitting two of the Cubs’ four homers in a victory in Chicago.

Sandberg and Mark Grace hit consecutive homers in the fourth inning and Scott Servais also homered for the Cubs, who moved back to .500.

Pittsburgh 4, Cincinnati 3--Dave Clark had two run-scoring singles at Cincinnati for the Pirates, who sent the Reds to their ninth loss in a row.

Philadelphia 6, Florida 5--Pete Incaviglia hit the longest home run in the history of Joe Robbie Stadium, a 482-foot, three-run shot in the sixth inning that put the Phillies ahead, 5-2, in their victory over the Marlins.

Houston 3, Atlanta 0--Mike Hampton pitched a three-hitter for his first complete game and Jeff Bagwell homered for the Astros in a victory at Houston.