Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2 — March 15, 2003 — Spring Training — PedroMartinez, Boston Red Sox pitcher

Saturday, March 15, 2003
Spring Training Game 21
Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2

BOSTON           AB  R  H BI    TAMPA BAY        AB  R  H BI
T Nixon rf        3  0  1  0    J Tyner lf        4  0  0  0
E Snyder 3b       1  0  0  0    B Abernathy 2b    4  1  1  1
B L Mueller 2b    3  0  0  0    A Huff dh         3  1  1  0
J Giambi lf       3  0  1  0    J Baughman pr     0  0  0  0
J Owens lf        1  0  0  0    T Lee 1b          3  0  1  2
K Millar dh       3  0  1  0    C Truby 3b        1  0  0  0
P Boran dh        1  0  0  0    B Grieve rf       3  0  1  0
D Ortiz 1b        2  1  1  0    D Rolls rf        1  0  1  0
J Zuleta 1b       1  0  0  0    J Sandberg 3b     4  0  1  0
S Hillenbrand 3b  3  1  2  2    M Anderson cf     3  0  0  0
C Coste c         1  0  0  0    R Baldelli cf     1  0  0  0
L Collier ss      3  0  0  0    T Hall c          3  1  0  0
M Dorta 2b        1  0  0  0    J Fabregas c      0  0  0  0
J Varitek c       2  0  0  0    R Ordonez ss      3  0  0  0
F Money rf        1  0  0  0
D Jackson cf      2  0  0  0
A Brown cf        1  0  0  0
TOTALS           32  2  6  2    TOTALS           33  3  6  3

BOSTON                    000 200 000 —  2
TAMPA BAY                 003 000 00x —  3

E–S Hillenbrand, B L Mueller, E Snyder. DP–TAMPA BAY 1. LOB–BOSTON 6,
TAMPA BAY 7. 2B–S Hillenbrand, T Lee. HR–S Hillenbrand 1 (2) (off J
Standridge). SB–T Nixon 1 (2).

                                  IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR
BOSTON
P Martinez (L,0-2)                 3   4   3   0   0   4   0
A Embree                           1   0   0   0   0   2   0
R Mendoza                          2   1   0   0   0   1   0
M Timlin                           1   0   0   0   0   0   0
H Almonte                          1   1   0   0   1   1   0

TAMPA BAY
S Parris (W,1-0)                   3   3   0   0   2   2   0
J Standridge                       1   1   2   2   1   1   1
C Bowers                           1   2   0   0   0   1   0
L Carter                           1   0   0   0   0   0   0
B Seay                             1   0   0   0   0   0   0
B Wells                            1   0   0   0   0   1   0
J Colome (S,2)                     1   0   0   0   0   2   0

SO–BOS: D Jackson 2, L Collier, C Coste, F Money, P Boran, J Giambi. TAM:
J Sandberg 2, J Tyner 2, B Grieve, T Hall, C Truby, A Huff. BB–BOS: B L
Mueller, D Ortiz, J Varitek. TAM: A Huff. T–2:29. A–6,201.

Martinez breezed through the first two innings, allowing only a two-out infield single to Jared Sandberg in the second. He got Toby Hall to lead off the third with a grounder to third base, but the ball skipped off the heel of Shea Hillenbrand’s glove and into his jersey for an error. The runner was also awarded second base because the ball remained lodged in his shirt.

“I’ve never seen anything like that. That was weird. But that’s part of the game. That’s the way the game is,” Martinez said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Martinez retired the next two batters before the Devil Rays broke through with three straight hits. Brent Abernathy singled to drive in Hall, then scored ahead of Aubrey Huff on Travis Lee’s two-run double. Martinez allowed three runs on four hits in his third spring start. He struck out four and walked none.

“A couple of freaky things happened out there that don’t usually happen to Pedro when he’s pitching,” Boston manager Grady Little said. “But he got his work in. He felt good afterward and he’ll go again on Thursday.”

Per the MLB.com website, Rule 5.09(g) mentions only umpires and catchers, but it seems the same principle applies to fielders:

5.09
The ball becomes dead and runners advance one base, or return to their bases, without liability to be put out, when … (g) A pitched ball lodges in the umpire’s or catcher’s mask or paraphernalia, and remains out of play, runners advance one base;