Martinez was at just 65 pitches through five innings, so he was left in to face the top of the order for a third time with a 3-1 lead in the sixth. He got two outs, but then Eric Wagaman singled. It brought up Agustín Ramírez, who had already reached twice. Terry Francona stuck with Martinez, only to watch him give up an RBI double. Martinez was pulled with a 3-2 lead at that point, and Graham Ashcraft finished the sixth without further trouble. Alas, Ashcraft went on to give up the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh. Martinez remains 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA. He’ll face the Cardinals next.

This game got off to an inauspicious start when Julio Rodríguez reached on an error by Elly De La Cruz on the first pitch of the game, advanced to second on a wild pitch by Martinez soon thereafter, and later came around to score. Still, Martinez was nowhere close to sharp in this one. He left far too many pitches over the middle of the plate and the Mariners made him pay with plenty of hard contact. They had 11 hard-hit balls in total and Martinez didn’t have a single one-two-three innings. He’s scheduled to face the Marlins in his next start coupled with a game in Coors Field in what looks to be an unfortunate pairing for a two-start week.

It’s the fifth career eight-strikeout game for Martinez, who has yet to reach double figures in the majors. He had a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth today, but it didn’t hold up after he gave up three hits and was pulled. The performance leaves Martinez with a 6.06 ERA. He’ll start at home against the Mariners next time out.

Martinez didn’t have his A-game in this one. His command was shotty and he threw ball one more often than strike one. Being behind so many hitters forced him into long, laborious at-bats and he was lucky to allow just three runs. Still, his cutter and sinker are so difficult to square up that it often helps him to avoid serious damage. He’ll look to get on track in his next scheduled start against the Giants out in San Francisco.