Seattle Is Winless Against Martinez

Pedro Martinez owns the Seattle Mariners, even if he won’t say so.

Martinez extended his dominance of the Mariners, giving up three hits in seven innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 5-1 victory Saturday. He improved to 11-0 lifetime against Seattle, his most wins against any team.

“A lot of things have to go right for anybody to win that many games,” Boston catcher Jason Varitek said. “Your team has to hit, and you’ve seen us when we don’t hit for him. It just happens to be circumstantial.”

Martinez (9-3) declined interviews afterward, something he has done often since the All-Star break. It wasn’t because he was unable to express himself, according to Red Sox Manager Grady Little.

“He does a lot of chirping when he’s sitting on the bench, watching a game, or watching it on TV in the clubhouse,” Little said. “He does a lot of talking, but all the time he’s watching hitters’ approaches. They change, and he changes too.”

Martinez yielded one run with one walk and seven strikeouts. Kevin Millar hit a solo homer and drove in two runs as the Red Sox maintained a one-game lead over Oakland in the wild-card race.

Seattle’s lead over Oakland in the West Division was reduced to four games because the Athletics beat Toronto.

Scott Williamson worked a scoreless eighth. Byung-Hyun Kim struck out two in the ninth inning, finishing the five-hitter.

With Martinez in control, the outcome swung on a 12-pitch at-bat by Bill Mueller in the third. Seattle starter Joel Pineiro (13-8), who lost his third straight, worked through a 41-pitch inning.

After Damian Jackson singled, Mueller fouled off six two-strike pitches before lining a single to left. David Ortiz hit a two-run double, and Millar drove him in with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.

“The turning point was Bill Mueller’s at-bat,” Varitek said. “It was phenomenal. It ends with a base hit and guys at first and third.”

And Martinez came up big, which wasn’t a surprise considering his history against Seattle. He had a 0.94 earned-run average against the Mariners, and he has trailed them only once -- for one inning on May 12, 2002.

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Wild-Card Race

*--* W L GB Boston 71 52 -- Oakland 70 53 1 Chicago 63 60 8 Minnesota 63 60 8

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