Pedro Martinez vs. Jose Guillen. Bases loaded. One-run game. One who had declared "enough is enough" after the other had hit him twice in one game last week. Both teams playing under a seasonlong warning to cut out the beanballs.
This was great baseball theater.
Martinez threw a ball. Catcher Paul Lo Duca called time, went to the mound and gave Martinez a hard "Let's go" pat on the behind as they parted. Three pitches later, Guillen hit a 91-mile-per-hour pitch to the shortstop. Double play. Martinez had worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to end the Washington Nationals' last real threat, and the New York Mets went to a 3-1 victory in Washington for their fifth straight win.
"Usually in a game like this you're hopeful for one good shot at a pitcher like Pedro," Nationals manager Frank Robinson said. "And we got that in the sixth inning. We couldn't ask for any better chance than we had there, with the people we had coming to the plate. We got nothing out of it."
Martinez (2-0) struck out Jose Vidro, who had earlier homered, with a high fastball before facing Guillen. The sixth inning was the only real trouble for the Mets ace on a night in which he allowed three hits and walked one over seven innings. He struck out only three and allowed the Nationals to hit 11 fly ball outs to the spacious confines of RFK Stadium.
There was nothing close to a repeat of the troubles that marred last week's series between the teams in New York, when seven batters were hit — six by Mets pitchers — and a near-fight ensued after Guillen was plunked for the fifth time by Martinez in his career. Guillen said later: "We used to be friends, but that relationship is over."
Washington right-hander Felix Rodriguez and manager Frank Robinson were suspended by Major League Baseball, although Rodriguez's suspension is under appeal. Guillen was fined.
PIRATES 9, DODGERS 5: At Pittsburgh, Craig Wilson hit a pair of two-run homers, including a go-ahead drive in the seventh inning, and Pittsburgh rallied for a victory over Los Angeles. The Pirates rallied from three runs down against the Dodgers for the second night in a row — they won 7-6 Tuesday — and did it again with home runs.
PHILLIES 7, BRAVES 5: At Atlanta, Aaron Rowand hit a two-run homer, Pat Burrell also homered and Philadelphia won for only the second time this season. The Phillies, who lost six of their first seven games, jumped ahead 4-0 in the second inning and held on.
CARDINALS 8, BREWERS 3: At St. Louis, Jim Edmonds hit a three-run double and scored on a pair of errors during a pivotal at-bat in the fifth inning. Jason Marquis (2-0) worked around a three-run homer by Carlos Lee in an otherwise solid six-inning stint. St. Louis is 2-0 at new Busch Stadium.
CUBS 4, REDS 1: At Chicago, a classic performance by Greg Maddux two days before his 40th birthday carried the Chicago Cubs. Working quickly and using an assortment of pitches and speeds, Maddux (2-0) allowed three hits and a run in six innings Wednesday to get his 320th career win. One day after hitting six homers, the Reds had five errors.
PADRES 7, MARLINS 2: At Miami, Adrian Gonzalez went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and Chris Young allowed one hit in six innings to lead San Diego to its second straight win. Miguel Cabrera hit his second homer of the season for Florida, which lost its fifth game in a row and is off to a 1-6 start.