Red Sox Thriving, Martinez is Ailing

Frank Castillo pitched five shutout innings, and the suddenly powerful Boston Red Sox got home runs from Troy O’Leary and Trot Nixon to beat the Florida Marlins, 4-2, Tuesday night at Boston.

Despite learning that ace Pedro Martinez will probably miss his next start, the Red Sox won for the 10th time in 13 games. During the stretch, they are 1-2 when Martinez starts, 9-1 when he doesn’t.

The Red Sox lead the American League with a 3.22 earned-run average. They’ve also hit 23 home runs in their last 12 games after hitting only 56 in their first 50.

Martinez, who has a tender right shoulder, had been scheduled to pitch Friday night in Atlanta. He threw softly for 10 minutes before the game and left the field without talking to the media.

Seattle 10, Colorado 9--Mike Cameron hit a solo home run off Juan Acevedo in the ninth--the Mariners’ sixth homer of the game--to give them the victory at Denver.

Bret Boone hit two home runs and Dan Wilson also hit a homer and drove in three runs for the Mariners (49-13), who are off to the second-best start in baseball history. Seattle trails only the 1912 New York Giants (51-11) through the first 62 games.

Colorado’s Todd Helton hit his 22nd homer and had three RBIs to raise his total to 71.

Atlanta 3, Toronto 0--Odalis Perez shut out Toronto on three hits for eight innings, and the Braves defeated the Blue Jays at SkyDome.

Pinch-hitter Bernard Gilkey hit a two-run double in the eighth for the Braves, who improved to 9-2 on their season-high 12-game road trip and closed within 2 1/2 games of Philadelphia in the NL East.

Montreal 2, New York Yankees 1--Mark Smith hit a disputed home run off Ramiro Mendoza in the 12th inning, lifting the Expos to the victory at Yankee Stadium.

Chicago White Sox 5, Cincinnati 0--David Wells (5-5) bounced back from the shortest outing of his career to pitch seven shutout innings in the White Sox’s victory at Chicago. Wells pitched to five batters last Friday without recording an out, then left with back spasms.

Pittsburgh 13, Detroit 3--Abraham Nunez hit a bases-loaded triple to highlight the Pirates’ nine-run fourth inning at Detroit as they helped give Todd Ritchie (1-8) his first victory of the season.

Minnesota 7, Houston 0--At Minneapolis, Brad Radke pitched a four-hitter for his first win in five starts, leading the Twins back into first place in the AL Central with a victory over the visiting Astros.

Kansas City 7, St. Louis 4--Chad Durbin came within two outs of Kansas City’s first complete game of the season, leading the Royals to a victory over the Cardinals.

New York Mets 10, Baltimore 3--Robin Ventura hit two homers and drove in four runs, and Timo Perez had a career-high four hits as the Mets won easily at Baltimore.

Oakland 5, San Diego 2--Tim Hudson (7-3) won his fifth start in a row, and Jason Giambi homered and drove in three runs as the Athletics won at San Diego, handing the Padres their 11th loss in 13 games.

Tampa Bay 9, Philadelphia 5--Ben Grieve hit his fourth career grand slam and Greg Vaughn also homered to help rookie left-hander Joe Kennedy and the Devil Rays defeat the Phillies at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Milwaukee 4, Cleveland 2--Richie Sexson singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning in his return to Cleveland as the Brewers defeated the Indians.