Ace dealt a real blow

The problems started when Pedro Martinez got burned for a knuckleball he didn't even throw.

Through 3 1/3 innings last night, the Red Sox ace cruised -- 10 Orioles up, 10 down, six of them on strikeouts. Martinez looked like a solid bet to improve to 7-0 at Fenway Park this season.

But Miguel Tejada began to spoil Martinez's night when he smashed a knuckling liner to center that got past Johnny Damon. The two-run triple produced the first two of Tejada's five RBIs and opened the floodgates to a 10-5 Sox loss.

"I felt like I made pretty good pitches, they just got to it," Martinez said. "You have to give them credit."

Martinez (10-4) allowed a season-high eight runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings, including an inside-the-park home run. He struck out seven and walked one while taking his first loss since falling, 3-1, to Toronto May 16.

"I thought early the balls weren't hit very well and the ball jumped to Johnny," Sox manager Terry Francona said. "But the others weren't."

Martinez's night turned into a combination of bad breaks and a hot streak by the Orioles. When Martinez faced Tejada, both cases seemed to apply.

After his tricky liner led to a three-run inning in the fourth, Tejada reached down and away to pull a nasty Martinez offering for a two-run single to left with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. It triggered another three-run inning for the Orioles.

"Tejada came up and hit a great pitch," Martinez said.

The eight runs were the most he's allowed in a game since giving up seven runs in a 10-7 Red Sox loss at Anaheim, Calif., June 2.

In the seventh inning last night, a strange play in the outfield led to a two-run, inside-the-park homer by David Newhan.

"It was just a curveball," Martinez said. "It was off the wall and, I don't know, something happened between Johnny and Manny [Ramirez]. I didn't quite see what happened there. I was going to back up the plate."

With two outs, Larry Bigbie at third, and Martinez one strike away from escaping a jam, Newhan slammed a 1-and-2 pitch off the center-field wall. Damon retrieved it and fired toward the infield, only to see his throw cut off by Ramirez, giving Newhan extra time to round the bases.

It was also Newhan who started the fourth-inning uprising when he beat out a broken-bat grounder down the third base line.

"You know, there's nothing I can do really," said Martinez, who entered the game 6-0 with a 2.92 ERA in nine starts at Fenway. "I made good pitches. Broken bats, rollers to the line. Guys just hit another bloop after the other."

Martinez remained in the game after Newhan's homer, but allowed a ringing single to center by Melvin Mora, before being pulled by Francona.

By the time the fans were singing along to "Sweet Caroline" in the seventh, Martinez was in the shower, on the hook for the loss.

"There's no other way to explain it," Martinez said. "Let it go. Pedro got shelled."