Mariners Have No Answers for Martinez

Pedro Martinez started this season the same way he ended last year--with pure dominance.

Martinez struck out 11 and held Seattle to only two hits in seven innings Tuesday night, pitching the Boston Red Sox past the Mariners, 2-0, in the first season opener at Safeco Field.

Playing their first season without Ken Griffey Jr. since 1989, the Mariners could not touch Martinez, who was the unanimous AL Cy Young winner last season after going 23-4 with a 2.07 earned-run average and 313 strikeouts.

Martinez said he would not try to duplicate his 1999 numbers.

“I wouldn’t look for it,” he said. “Those are special seasons. They don’t come every day. You have to take those, just like the bad ones, and forget about it.”

“You can’t think about trying to do the same things. It’s too hard. You’d go crazy before you pitch the first game. I mean, those things just happen.”

Martinez finished last year with 17 shutout innings in the postseason. He did not come close to allowing a run against Seattle--he has given up only one earned run in his last 42 innings.

“I didn’t even realize at the end of last season through the playoffs what I had done and what I had achieved. But if it happens this year, great. I’ll thank God. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” he said.

A stadium record crowd of 45,552 saw Martinez (1-0) give up a bloop single by Carlos Guillen in the third inning and a ground single by John Olerud in the fourth.

Martinez walked the Mariners’ main offensive threat, Alex Rodriguez, with two outs in the first and sixth.

The Mariners, who traded Griffey to Cincinnati in February, did not have any other runners against Martinez. Mike Cameron, one of the players acquired for Griffey, was 0 for 4 and struck out three times.

“The guy is unbelievable. He is an all-world pitcher,” Cameron said.

Said Red Sox Manager Jimy Williams: “From Pedro’s standpoint, he’s been very consistent. He loves to compete. The big thing for me, if you’ve watched him pitch, he stayed with his delivery and didn’t try to overthrow the ball.”

Derek Lowe relieved to start the eighth and completed the combined two-hitter.

Jamie Moyer (0-1) was even with Martinez until the sixth when the Red Sox scored their first run on Troy O’Leary’s infield single.

John Valentin and newcomer Carl Everett singled and Mike Stanley walked to load the bases. O’Leary hit a slow roller and barely beat second baseman David Bell’s throw.

In the seventh, the Red Sox drove Moyer from the game when Jason Varitek walked, Darren Lewis sacrificed and Jose Offerman hit an RBI double.