ST. PETERSBURG -- The way Nick Martinez saw it, he and the rest of the Rays staff simply ran into a “buzzsaw” in the form of the Tigers lineup last week at Tropicana Field. That kept him from thinking too deeply or worrying too much about his first rough outing of the season, a four-inning start in which he gave up six runs on nine hits.
Taking the mound Tuesday night against the Red Sox would present a fresh start, a chance to begin another run like his dominant 11-start streak to open the season.
“It’s a good way to look at it, right?” Martinez said Monday afternoon. “Another opportunity to start a new one.”
True to his word, the veteran right-hander returned to form in the Rays’ 4-3 win over the Red Sox at Tropicana Field. Martinez allowed three runs on six hits and didn’t walk a batter while working into the eighth inning on 73 pitches.
Martinez’s eighth quality start actually raised his ERA to 2.43, the third-lowest mark in the American League behind the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler and Cleveland’s Parker Messick. More importantly, the Rays improved to 10-3 with the 35-year-old on the mound.
Martinez allowed a run in the third inning, but the Rays quickly erased that deficit in the fourth thanks to a rally led by their right-handed-hitting role players against Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle.
Ryan Vilade hit a one-out double to left field and dashed home on center fielder Cedric Mullins’ two-out single to right. Ben Williamson continued the rally with an RBI double to left-center, then catcher Nick Fortes chopped another RBI double over third baseman Caleb Durbin’s head to put the Rays ahead, 3-1.
The bottom of the lineup produced what turned out to be a critical run in the sixth, when Williamson singled, Fortes was hit by a pitch, and Richie Palacios swatted a single to center.
Martinez finally faltered in the eighth, when Boston picked up two runs on three straight hits. But setup man Kevin Kelly quickly quelled that threat, getting three ground balls in a row to leave the tying run on base.