Martinez Sharp In His Return To Shea

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The New York Sun

Pedro Martinez’s return to Shea Stadium was a huge success.

Martinez tossed five shutout innings in his first start at home this season, out pitching Roy Oswalt and leading the Mets past the Houston Astros 4–1 yesterday for a three-game sweep.

Martinez had shoulder surgery in October and worked five innings in his return to the majors last Monday at Cincinnati, earning the win in New York’s 10–4 victory. He followed that up with a more impressive outing, scattering six hits and striking out four against the skidding Astros.

Moises Alou hit a two-run homer and Carlos Beltran drove in two runs for New York, which has won eight of nine since it was swept in a four-game series at Philadelphia. The NL East-leading Mets entered the day with a six-game lead over the Phillies.

Luke Scott homered for Houston, which has lost seven of eight and went 2–7 on its nine-game road trip. The Astros managed only five runs in the series.

Oswalt (14–7) allowed nine hits and four runs in seven innings, falling to 6–1 with a 2.20 ERA in his last nine starts.

Martinez’s homecoming was one part of a big sports day in New York, with tennis star Roger Federer playing in the U.S. Open final across the street from Shea, and the Jets hosting rival New England in their NFL season opener.

The crowd of 51,847 roared when Martinez was introduced with the starting lineup and again as he warmed up before the first inning. One sign hanging from the second deck read “New York (loves) Pedro #45” and there were chants of “Let’s go Pedro!” throughout.

* * *

There’s just no stopping A-Rod. Alex Rodriguez homered for the fifth straight game, connecting for the seventh time during that span and sending the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 6–3 yesterday for a three-game sweep.

Chien-Ming Wang earned his 18th win to remain tied for the major league lead, and Jorge Posada hit a tiebreaking, two-run double that helped New York extend its AL wild-card lead to four games over Detroit.

Playing without Derek Jeter, held out with a sore knee, the Yankees stayed 5 1/2 games back of first-place Boston in the AL East. The Red Sox beat Baltimore 3–2 behind Josh Beckett, who also has 18 wins.

Wang (18–6) gave up a three-run double to rookie Alex Gordon but went seven innings to win his fifth start in a row. Against the Royals, the right-hander is 4–0 in six career starts. Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances.

The Yankees, with Rodriguez on a home run tear that’s helped him move past several Hall of Famers on various career lists, have won five straight and 23 of 35 to reach a season-high 19 games over .500. New York went 8–1 against Kansas City this season.

A-Rod’s two-run shot off Zack Greinke in the first inning was his major league-leading 52nd homer and it raised his RBI count to 140, also best in the big leagues. It’s the third time in his brilliant 13-year career that he’s homered in five consecutive games.

With 516 home runs, he is five behind Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 15th place on the career list.

Rodriguez came up with two outs and two on in the second, but this round went to Greinke when the right-hander struck him out on three pitches. Rodriguez wound up 2-for-5 with a single and three strikeouts.

Brandon Duckworth (2-5) pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief and took the loss.


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