SAN DIEGO, June 21 (UPI) -- Pedro Martinez tossed eight scoreless innings Thursday night to avoid his first three-game losing streak in four years to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 5-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Martinez, who has not won since May 23, allowed two hits, walked one, and had 11 strikeouts. The three-time Cy Young Award winner had double-digit strikeouts for the 83rd time in his career, one game shy of tying Hall of Famer Steve Carlton for fifth place on the all-time list.
Nolan Ryan is first with 215 games of 10 or more strikeouts.
Nomar Garciaparra doubled, tripled and drove in three runs while Johnny Damon added a triple and two RBI for the Red Sox, who won for just the fifth time in 12 games.
Padres rookie starter Kevin Pickford (0-2) surrendered two runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out two.
