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  Thursday, Sep. 7 1:05pm ET
Offerman has three HRs in two days
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

BOSTON (AP) -- Ramon Martinez wasn't concerned when he spotted the Minnesota Twins five runs in the first inning.

After all, he'd been in that position before.

Ramon Martinez
Ramon Martinez gave up five runs in the first inning, but settled down to earn his ninth win.

Martinez retired 16 of 17 batters after allowing back-to-back homers in the first inning -- including the first career grand slam by David Ortiz -- and Jose Offerman homered twice to rally the Boston Red Sox to an 11-6 victory over Minnesota on Thursday.

"He bent but he didn't break," Boston manager Jimy Williams said of his starter. "It's a nine-inning game. And we hadn't even been up yet."

Offerman, who also homered on Wednesday night, had three hits and scored four times in the second multihomer game of his career.

Dante Bichette also homered for the second consecutive game and Lou Merloni had three hits for the Red Sox, who play their next seven games against the AL East-leading Yankees and the wild card-leading Indians.

"We have to play some very big games this weekend," Martinez said. "The next seven games are going to be very interesting."

Ortiz hit his first career grand slam, then Corey Koskie followed with a homer off Martinez to give the Twins a fast 5-0 lead. But Martinez (9-6) settled down after that -- a pattern he has followed all season.

Twenty-nine of the 74 runs he has allowed this season have been in the first, giving him an ERA of 11.35 in the first inning and 4.62 in the rest. Overall, he gave up six runs in 5 2/3 innings on eight hits on Thursday while matching a season high with seven strikeouts.

"I don't worry about the first inning, because I don't want that to get into my head," he said. "If you go out there and you give up five or six or whatever number of runs, you don't have to give up. You never give up. You give the team a chance to come back, and that's what happened today."

Eric Milton (12-9) also allowed six runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out four, but he only lasted 3 1/3 innings as the Twins allowed 16 hits in all and lost for the seventh time in nine games. He gave up Offerman's solo homer in the first and Merloni's RBI single in the second before being chased in Boston's five-run fourth.

"The Red Sox hit them hard, they hit them soft and they hit them everywhere," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "They had 16, 18,

20 hits, whatever. Milton left it over the plate, and they hit it over, out and everywhere. And the rest of them were like that, too."

Bichette led off the fourth with a homer, then Troy O'Leary singled, Jason Varitek walked and Merloni singled to load the bases. One out later, Darren Lewis hit a two-run double to finish off Milton.

John Cressend walked Offerman, then Carl Everett hit a grounder to first baseman Ron Coomer, who threw Merloni out at the plate. But when catcher Chad Moeller tried to make the relay to first, the throw went wide of the base and into right field for an error, allowing Lewis to score.

Nomar Garciaparra, the ninth batter of the inning, singled to center to score Offerman, but Torii Hunter threw Everett out at home, on a fly.

Game notes
Bichette, who was acquired on Aug. 31 before playoff rosters were set, hit his second homer with Boston to go with 16 in Cincinnati. ... The game was a makeup of the one rained out on July 26. Although there were several thousand empty seats, it was considered a sellout because the original game tickets were all sold. It was Boston's 57th sellout of the season and the 47th in a row. ... The Red Sox have 12 of their next 16 games against either the Yankees, who lead the AL East, or Cleveland, which leads the AL wild-card race. ... Martinez has allowed at least one run the first inning in 12 of 23 starts. Eight times he has allowed more than one run. ... Boston reliever Rich Garces left with a right groin strain after getting two outs. ... Merloni had three hits for the fourth time in 17 starts. ... Milton was 4-2 with a 3.06 ERA in eight starts coming into the game. ... Boston finished the season 8-2 against Minnesota. ... It was Offerman's first multihomer game of his career. He had no Fenway homers this season until Wednesday night.
 


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RECAPS
Boston 11
Minnesota 6

Tampa Bay 4
Cleveland 3

Anaheim 6
Detroit 4

Seattle 8
Toronto 1

Chi. White Sox 10
Texas 6

NY Yankees 7
Kansas City 3

St. Louis 6
Montreal 1

Houston 7
Florida 3

Atlanta 4
Arizona 0

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AUDIO/VIDEO
audio
 Lou Merloni gives credit to Ramon Martinez. (WFXT)
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6

 Dante Bichette talks about the importance of scoring early. (WFXT)
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6