Blue Jays Don’t Waste Off Night by Martinez

For anyone else, it might be considered a great outing.

For Pedro Martinez, it was an off night.

“For him, it was a bad performance. And that’s scary,” Blue Jay outfielder Shannon Stewart said Tuesday night after visiting Toronto defeated Martinez and the Boston Red Sox, 3-2. “The guy’s just a great pitcher.”

Chris Carpenter and the Toronto bullpen outpitched Martinez, who allowed a season-high seven hits and three earned runs as his major league-leading ERA rose from 0.90 to 1.19.

Martinez (7-2) had not given up three earned runs in 18 starts since last Aug. 19, a span that included last year’s playoffs.

Martinez struck out seven and walked three in eight innings. Although he sat in the dugout after the game with his arms crossed and a frown across his face, he said he wasn’t upset with his performance.

“I’m going to have to find out what is [wrong], but it’s no big deal,” he said.

Carpenter (4-5) was facing Martinez for the second time in six days, having lost 8-0 in his last start. The Toronto right-hander allowed two runs, six hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings, leaving with two out and the bases loaded in the sixth. Paul Quantrill retired Jose Offerman to end the threat.

Baltimore 4, Seattle 2--Cal Ripken hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Orioles ended a losing streak at four games.

The Orioles blew a 2-0 lead in the top of the inning, but Ripken’s shot off Jose Mesa (2-3) enabled Baltimore to salvage only its third win in 18 games.

Texas 4, Kansas City 3--Chad Curtis and David Segui homered, and the Rangers defeated the Royals at Kansas City, Mo., for their seventh consecutive victory.

Chicago 8, New York 2--Brook Fordyce celebrated his return to the major leaguess with a three-run homer off Roger Clemens at Chicago, one of five White Sox homers.

Detroit 10, Cleveland 4--Bobby Higginson and Dean Palmer had consecutive home runs in a six-run fifth inning for the Tigers at Detroit.

Tampa Bay 6, Oakland 4--John Flaherty homered and Jose Canseco drove in three runs to back the strong relief pitching of Bryan Rekar for the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Around the League

Seattle infielder Mark McLemore was suspended for five games by the commissioner’s office for his role in a fight last weekend. The players’ association appealed the penalty. With Seattle trailing Tampa Bay, 4-2, in the seventh inning last Saturday, McLemore charged the mound after an inside pitch and tackled pitcher Esteban Yan. “I knew what the consequences were when I went out there, but I think five days is a little much,” McLemore said. . . . Ranger outfielder Gabe Kapler was recalled from a rehabilitation assignment with triple-A Oklahoma.