Red Sox Lose Game, Maybe Martinez Too

Johnny Damon picked the worst possible time to make his first error in 250 games.

Damon misplayed a ball in the ninth inning that allowed Bill Selby to score from first on Omar Vizquel’s double, giving the Cleveland Indians an 8-7 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night at Cleveland.

The loss accompanied the news that a strained left hip could force Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez to miss his scheduled start Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

Martinez did not fly with the team to Cleveland on Friday. He instead stayed in Boston to be examined by team physician Bill Morgan and have a precautionary MRI test done.

“He’s scheduled to start on Tuesday and right now we’re unsure about that,” manager Grady Little said. “We’ll see him again [in New York] and check it out.”

Little said he suspects that Martinez sustained the injury Wednesday in the late innings of his start against the Yankees, in which he walked a season-high four batters and took the loss. Martinez threw 127 pitches in the game, the most he’s thrown since May of last year. Little said he didn’t regret letting Martinez throw so much.

“There is nothing wrong with his arm,” Little said. “His arm still feels great.”

Damon didn’t feel good about his miscue, which ended Boston’s bid at a comeback from a 6-0 deficit.

“It’s not the time to make it,” Damon said.

With one out in the ninth, Selby hit a pinch single. Milton Bradley popped up a bunt to first baseman Brian Daubach before Vizquel’s hit off Bobby Howry (3-4).

Damon went to his right to cut off the ball and it bounced off his glove. He threw to cutoff man Nomar Garciaparra, who made a strong throw to the plate, but Jason Varitek couldn’t come up with the one-hop throw as Selby slid in headfirst.

Damon had not committed an error in 592 total chances--an American League record. His last error was on Aug. 27, 2000. It came against Boston when he was with the Kansas City Royals.

Kansas City 4, Seattle 2--Kit Pellow hit a tiebreaking RBI single off closer Kazuhiro Sasaki with two out in the ninth inning to lead the Royals at Seattle. With two out, Neifi Perez drew a walk from Arthur Rhodes (7-3) and Luis Ordaz singled. Sasaki replaced Rhodes and gave up a single to Pellow, scoring Perez from second. Carlos Beltran followed with an RBI single.

Roberto Hernandez pitched the ninth for his 25th save in 32 opportunities.

The Mariners tied the score at 2-2 with two out in the eighth when Carlos Guillen hit his ninth homer.

Toronto 5, New York 1--Justin Miller, Cliff Politte and Kelvim Escobar combined on a three-hitter as the Blue Jays won at Toronto. Miller, facing the Yankees for the first time, only gave up Derek Jeter’s single to left in the first, Raul Mondesi’s bloop double to center in the fifth and John Vander Wal’s infield single in the fifth. Josh Phelps hit an RBI triple in the fifth for his 30th RBI of the month, the most RBIs in a month by an American League rookie since the Angels’ Garret Anderson had 31 in July 1995.

Chicago 9, Detroit 4--Joe Crede hit his fourth home run in as many games, capping a five-run first for the White Sox at Detroit. It was Chicago’s sixth victory in eight games and Detroit’s third loss in a row. Crede has 13 RBIs in his last four games.

Tampa Bay 7, Texas 5--Randy Winn scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the eighth as the Devil Rays won at Arlington, Texas.