TORONTO, 22 April 2004 — Pedro Martinez tossed a five-hitter over seven innings to outduel Roy Halladay in a battle of Cy Young Award winners as the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Tuesday.

Martinez (2-1) allowed two runs and struck out six to get the better of Halladay for the second time in 10 days. He got the win over the reigning Cy Young Award winner on April 10 in Boston.

Both benches cleared in the eighth inning when Toronto reliever Terry Adams came close to hitting Manny Ramirez in the head with a pitch.

Ramirez walked towards the mound after the pitch, which sent both benches on to the field before order was restored.

Halladay (1-3) allowed three runs on nine hits over six innings with seven strikeouts to take the loss.

Boston has won four of its last five games after taking three of four from the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on the weekend.

The Blue Jays are 3-10, tying a franchise record for the worst start to a season, and are 0-7 at home. They are the first major league team to start 0-7 at home since the 1997 Chicago Cubs.

Keith Foulke pitched a perfect ninth for the Red Sox to earn his fourth save, completing the five-hitter. Jason Varitek had three hits for Boston, while Bill Mueller scored a pair of runs. Carlos Delgado had two hits for Toronto after entering the game hitting just .119.

In other American League games, Sidney Ponson pitched a four-hitter as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9-1.

Ponson (2-0) allowed one run and struck out two and walked one in pitching his 23rd complete game of his career.

Rafael Palmeiro drove in the runs to help the Orioles win their fifth straight game. Melvin Mora homered for Baltimore, while Javy Lopez and Miguel Tejada both had three hits and an RBI. Matt Stairs drove in six runs and hit a grand slam home run, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 15-5 win over the Cleveland Indians. Ken Harvey also homered for the Royals, who snapped a six-game road losing streak. Brian Anderson (1-0) allowed two earned runs on seven hits over six innings for the win.

In Minneapolis, Lew Ford, Michael Ryan and Nick Punto all drove in two runs to lead the Minnesota Twins to their sixth straight win, a 6-4 verdict over the Detroit Tigers.

Carlos Silva (2-0) allowed four runs on six hits over six innings to pick up the win.

Rondell White hit a two-run homer, his second in as many games, for the Tigers.

The New York Yankees scored seven runs in the first inning on their way to an 11-8 win over the Chicago White Sox.

Jorge Posada homered, had three hits and drove in four runs for the Yankees, who had 16 hits. Miguel Cairo drove in three runs for the Yankees, while Alex Rodriguez broke his slump with three hits.

Paul Quantrill (2-0) got the win in relief. Paul Konerko and Aaron Rowland homered for Chicago. Raul Ibanez homered in the seventh to tie the game and again in the ninth to win it, giving the Seattle Mariners a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Jim Mecir (0-1) gave up the game-winning homer. Brad Fullmer homered, leading the Texas Rangers past the Anaheim Angels 6-3. Gerald Laird drove in a pair of runs for Texas. Bengie Molina homered for the Angels.

Willis Wins Third

Straight for Marlins

Dontrelle Willis allowed one unearned run over 6 2/3 innings to win his third game of the season in a 3-1 victory for the Florida Marlins over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.

Willis (3-0) gave up four hits, struck out three and walked one to help the Marlins beat the Phillies for the 11th straight time.

Willis did see his consecutive hit streak at the plate come to an end when he struck out in his first at bat, ending his streak of 10 hits in a row dating back to last season.

He did, however, stretch his early season streak of not having allowed an earned run to 19 1/3 innings in his three starts to date.

Chad Fox tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Armando Benitez pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save in as many chances.

Florida’s hitters also did enough without Willis to snap Philadelphia’s four-game winning streak. Juan Pierre had two hits and drove in a run for the Marlins, while Luis Castillo also had two hits. Vicente Padilla (0-2) gave up three runs — two earned — and five hits in 6 1/3 innings and took the loss.

In other National League actions, Alex Gonzalez homered and drove in four runs as the Chicago Cubs routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1. Corey Patterson, Todd Walker and Michael Barrett also homered for the Cubs, while Carlos Zambrano (2-0) allowed one run on seven hits over eight innings.

Ryan Vogelsong (1-2) allowed nine runs on eight hits in just five innings.

Barry Bonds homered again, his eighth in the past seven games, but the San Francisco Giants lost 9-5 to the San Diego Padres.

Bonds delivered his major league leading ninth homer of the season and 667th of his career in the loss, while Pedro Felix also homered for the Padres.

Brian Lawrence (2-1) went five innings for the win, allowing four runs on seven hits. Brian Giles homered and Ryan Klesko had three hits and drove in a run for the Padres.

In New York, Jose Vidro’s homer in the eighth inning gave the Montreal Expos a 2-1 win over the New York Mets.

Zach Day (1-1) pitched a four-hitter over seven innings to get the win, ending an eight-game losing streak by the Expos.

Rocky Biddle picked up his third save for the Expos. David Weathers (1-1) took the loss in relief of Al Leiter.

Barry Larkin drove in a pair of runs, giving the Cincinnati Reds a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.Sean Casey had three hits for the Reds to help Juan Acevedo (2-0) pick up the win.

Danny Graves picked up his seventh save for the Reds. Lyle Overbay had three hits and drove in two runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2.

Junior Spivey added three hits and scored two runs for the Brewers. Ben Sheets (3-0) pitched six innings for the win, while Danny Kolb picked up his fourth save.

In Houston, Reggie Sanders and Albert Pujols both homered to lead the St. Louis Cardinals past the Astros 5-3. Jeff Suppan (1-2) allowed one run on five hits over six innings for the win. Jason Isringhausen got the last five outs for his second save. Lance Berkman drove in all three Houston runs.