Martinez Wins 15th as Talk of 30 Begins

Pedro Martinez is halfway to 30 wins, a mark that hasn’t been reached in more than three decades.

“I’m not even thinking about that,” Martinez said Friday night after pitching eight strong innings for his major league-leading 15th victory in the Boston Red Sox’s 6-1 victory over the White Sox Friday night at Chicago.

“I’ll give it a shot. Those things can happen just like the homers last year with [Mark] McGwire and [Sammy] Sosa. But I can’t say I’ll be the one who will do it. I’ll give it a try, but it’s hard to get.”

Martinez (15-2) gave up seven hits and one run--Magglio Ordonez’s 18th homer of the season. He struck out five and walked none, dropping his league-best ERA to 2.02.

Martinez tied Roger Clemens’ 1986 record for most wins by a Red Sox pitcher before the All-Star break.

Boston broke the game open with four runs in the sixth inning.

Tampa Bay 8, Toronto 7--Dave Martinez, whose wife underwent a nine-hour operation this week, drove in four runs as the Devil Rays set a team record with their sixth consecutive road win.

Jose Canseco, playing on his 35th birthday, hit his 29th home run for Tampa Bay.

Martinez missed the last two road games so he could be with his wife, Lisa, at a hospital in Palm Harbor, Fla. He declined to give details of Wednesday’s operation, but said his wife was OK.

Toronto threatened in the ninth, putting runners on second and third with one out. But Shannon Stewart grounded back to pitcher Roberto Hernandez, who threw out Tony Batista at the plate, and Craig Grebeck grounded out to end it.

Kansas City 9, Cleveland 7--Carlos Beltran drove in three runs with a double in the 10th inning at Cleveland after Paul Shuey walked pinch-hitter Jed Hansen with two outs to load the bases.

Beltran’s double into the right-field corner came one pitch after Shuey (5-3) walked Hansen, a .100 hitter, on four pitches. Hansen has three walks in 10 at-bats this season--all three coming against the Indians.

Matt Whisenant (3-3) pitched two innings for the win. The Indians put two men on in the bottom of the 10th, but he got Kenny Lofton to ground out to end it.

New York 2, Baltimore 1--The Orioles lost their ninth in a row as David Cone gutted his way through six innings at New York.

Baltimore’s longest losing streak of the season comes immediately after it won 11 of 12.

The Yankees have won nine of their last 10.

Cone (9-3) allowed a batter to reach base in every inning, but held the Orioles to one hit--an RBI single by Cal Ripken in the sixth--in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Cone retired Charles Johnson three times with a runner on third base. Johnson struck out with the bases loaded to end the second inning, struck out with men on second and third to end the fourth, and hit a hard one-hopper back to Cone with a runner on third and one out in the sixth.

Minnesota 11, Detroit 4--Doug Mientkiewicz had three hits and three RBIs for the Twins at Minneapolis.