Martinez Leads Mets Past Yankees

Pedro Martinez needed almost as much time to get to Yankee Stadium as he did to defeat the Yankees.

After a nearly three-hour trip through traffic from nearby Westchester, Martinez dominated his old nemesis for eight innings, getting home runs from Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran plus four sacrifice flies as he led the Mets to a 6-4 Subway Series victory Friday night.

“I left at 3:20 thinking, well, I’m going to get there with plenty of time, get in the Jacuzzi, relax, probably watch videos,” Martinez said.

The silver Chevy van he was in didn’t pull up until 6:08 p.m., exactly 1 hour before the first pitch.

“We ended up in the wrong neighborhood and we got lost,” he said. “We found a couple of policemen in a car that were really nice to bring us over.”

Martinez (8-2) was happy to have a police escort for the final part of the journey.

“If you’re pitching at Yankee Stadium, you’re a special person,” he said.

The Mets, who dropped two of three to the Yankees at Shea Stadium last month, overcame Derek Jeter’s leadoff homer when Ramon Castro, Jose Reyes and Mike Cameron set a National League record by hitting three sacrifice flies in the second inning, a rally fueled when Bernie Williams and Mike Mussina (8-5) made errors.

Reyes added another sacrifice fly in the ninth as the Mets tied the National League record for sacrifice flies in a game.

“Especially with Pedro pitching, you can’t give things away and we did,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said.

Met Manager Willie Randolph got a victory in his first trip back to Yankee Stadium, where he won two World Series titles as a player and four more as a coach.

“Once the game starts, it feels like what I’ve been doing all year,” Randolph said. “I don’t get all mushy about stuff.”

Chicago White Sox 12, Chicago Cubs 2 -- Freddy Garcia pitched seven strong innings, A.J. Pierzynski and Joe Crede each homered and drove in three runs and the White Sox won their eighth in a row and became the first team in the majors to win 50 games.

Washington 3, Toronto 0 -- Esteban Loaiza (3-5) hit a two-run double and pitched six shutout innings for the Nationals, who won their 11th in a row at home.

Milwaukee 3, Minnesota 1 -- Chris Capuano (7-6) pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings as the host Brewers won their third in a row. Milwaukee lost third baseman Jeff Cirillo for four to six weeks after he broke a bone in his left hand when hit by a pitch from reliever Matt Guerrier in the eighth.

Atlanta 7, Baltimore 5 -- Marcus Giles and Andruw Jones hit first-inning home runs at Atlanta and the Braves knocked the Orioles out of first place in the American League East.

Boston 8, Philadelphia 0 -- Tim Wakefield (6-6) gave up two hits, struck out six and walked two in eight innings at Philadelphia and the Red Sox won their fifth in a row.

Houston 5, Texas 2 -- Roy Oswalt (9-7) pitched 7 1/3 strong innings, Jason Lane broke out of a slump with a two-run homer and the host Astros handed the Rangers their fifth consecutive loss.

Cincinnati 5, Cleveland 4 -- Felipe Lopez doubled home the go-ahead run with two out in the ninth and Ken Griffey Jr. hit two homers at Cleveland as the Reds moved to 3-0 under interim Manager Jerry Narron.

Seattle 14, San Diego 5 -- Bret Boone hit a three-run triple and Richie Sexson, playing while he appeals a two-game suspension, had a two-run homer as the Mariners embarrassed the Padres at San Diego.

Colorado 12, Kansas City 4 -- Preston Wilson drove in three runs and the host Rockies ended a five-game losing streak and spoiled the return of former manager Buddy Bell.

Arizona 2, Detroit 1 -- Tony Clark had a run-scoring single and Shawn Green hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly at Phoenix to help the Diamondbacks win for the third time in four games since snapping a five-game losing streak.

Oakland 4, San Francisco 3 -- Bobby Kielty hit a two-run homer, Bobby Crosby also connected and Joe Blanton (4-6) won his third start in a row for the host Athletics.

Florida 7, Tampa Bay 4 -- Juan Pierre tripled with the bases loaded in a four-run eighth inning at St. Petersburg, Fla., and the Marlines defeated the Devil Rays for the fifth time in a row.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

St. Louis 8, Pittsburgh 1 -- Jeff Suppan took a two-hitter into the ninth inning and the Cardinals backed him with five home runs in an 8-1 victory at St. Louis. Jim Edmonds and So Taguchi each hit two home runs.