After 5 Innings, Martinez Decides It’s Quitting Time

It was vintage Pedro Martinez for five innings. Different pitches at various speeds in almost untouchable locations. He was toying with the high-scoring Chicago White Sox.

And then he was gone.

At the end of a long season with the Boston Red Sox--who are just barely alive in the AL wild card race--Martinez decided to shut it down and give his sore left knee and left side a rest.

“The knee is not something that takes me away from pitching,” Martinez said after the Red Sox beat the White Sox, 4-3, Tuesday night at Chicago.

“But this time I have a chance to rest it a little more since we’re not going to the playoffs or our hopes are limited.”

Martinez (18-6) retired the first 13 batters and allowed just one hit in his five innings before leaving for the night. He wasn’t too hurt to pitch, just worn out from the season.

“You have no drive and no push,” he said of the Red Sox’s disappointing finish. “That’s the reason I come out of a game like that. It makes no sense to be out there. I’m going to let my body rest and heal.”

Boston entered the game 5 1/2 games behind Oakland for the wild card.

Tampa Bay 2, New York Yankees 1--Fred McGriff’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning gave the Devil Rays a victory at St. Petersburg, Fla., and prevented the two-time defending World Series champion Yankees from clinching another AL East title.

Jorge Posada hit a game-tying homer in the top half off Roberto Hernandez to give the Yankees a chance to wrap up their fourth division crown in five years. But despite losing for the 10th time in 13 games, the Yankees are assured of at least a tie in the division and can win it with one more win or losses by Boston and Toronto.

Cleveland 4, Minnesota 2--Chuck Finley showed again that he’s more than a Yankee’ killer, pitching seven solid innings at Cleveland as the Indians kept pressure on Oakland in the AL wild-card chase.

Finley (15-11) allowed two runs and six hits, improving to 5-1 with a 3.43 ERA in September.

Jim Thome dribbled home the go-ahead run off J.C. Romero (2-7) and Jolbert Cabrera hit his second career homer for the Indians, who trail the Athletics by 1 1/2 games in the wild-card race.

Baltimore 2, Toronto 1--Brook Fordyce drove in the tiebreaking run with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly off David Wells at Baltimore as the Orioles further dimmed the Blue Jays’ flickering playoff hopes.

The Blue Jays would be eliminated from the AL East race with one more loss or if the first-place Yankees win one more game.

Jose Mercedes (13-7) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings to end a two-game losing streak. The right-hander is tied with the Yankees’ Andy Pettitte for most wins since the All-Star break (10).

Kansas City 7, Detroit 6--Luis Ordaz, inserted as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning at Kansas City, hit a game-winning single in the ninth as the Royals rallied from four runs down. Manager Tony Muser said after the game he thought about pinch-hitting for him, despite a .364 average against the Tigers. “I went with my gut,” Muser said. “He has gotten some big hits.”