ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Even though he'll be busy during the All-Star break - he has a date to take the mound as the American League's starting pitcher next Tuesday at Fenway Park - the Red Sox are trying to keep Pedro Martinez as fresh as possible for the second half.
Last week, the Sox gave Martinez five days off between starts. After pitching last night, he'll have another five days off before his All-Star assignment. And pitching coach Joe Kerrigan said it will be another five days before Martinez makes his first start of the second half, against the Florida Marlins July 19 in Fenway Park.
''We're going to put him at the end of the rotation,'' Kerrigan said. ''He'll get a little vacation there, a little break.
''I think he needs it bodywise. We want to make sure he comes out strong in the second half. We feel by giving him the little vacation break, we'll do it.''
After throwing 133 pitches in recording 14 strikeouts but losing, 3-2, to the Devil Rays last night, Martinez is averaging 113.72 pitches per start (2,047 pitches in 18 starts), most in the American League. He was second in that category last season to Roger Clemens (115.33 to 114.12).
Before the All-Star break last season, he was 11-2 with a 2.87 earned run average; afterward, he was 8-5 with a 2.91 ERA, including a 1-3 record with a 4.15 ERA in the last month of the season.
That has been his pattern throughout his career. Overall before the break, Martinez is 61-23 with a 2.74 ERA; after the break, 38-26, 3.11 ERA. Career record in September: 7-11, 3.27 ERA. In the other five months combined, he's 77-35, 42 games over .500.
Did he wear down last season?
''Yeah,'' Kerrigan said. ''Everyone does. He throws a lot of pitches, has a lot of strikeouts, he may wear down more than the average guy. That's why you really track his number of pitches, and the number of days he has between starts.
''I think he'll be OK in the second half.''
In five of Martinez's first nine starts this season, through May 18, he threw more than 120 pitches, topping out at 137 pitches against the Indians April 25, one of three starts he made in that span in which he exceeded 130 pitches.
Since then, Martinez has exceeded 110 pitches just twice in nine starts - last night and when he threw 118 pitches in a complete-game, 5-1 win over the Braves. He has had four starts in which he has thrown fewer than 100 pitches, including a season-low 59 when he went just five innings in a 17-1 win over the White Sox June 26, and he had five days off before that game.
A slow go
Nomar Garciaparra missed his fifth game with a strained left groin, and is an almost certain scratch for tonight's finale against the Devil Rays.
''Hopefully, he'll play by the weekend,'' general manager Dan Duquette said last night, referring to the Sox' three-game set with the Braves in Atlanta.
Garciaparra again took batting practice and fielded ground balls, but neither he nor the Red Sox are taking any chances.
''His whole priority is to get well and help this team win games,'' manager Jimy Williams said. ''Whether he can play in a game during the break or not isn't as important to him as playing for this team.
''It's important, but this is more important. That's how he thinks. He wants to help this team win.''
Long wait for Gordon
Closer Tom Gordon, who is expected to resume working out with the team after the All-Star break, is not projected to be back before mid-August at the earliest. And that's assuming the slight ligament tear in his right elbow heals on its own and doesn't require surgery.
Asked if there were grounds for concern whether Gordon would contribute at all the rest of the season, Kerrigan said: ''Sure there is. We should know after about the second week he starts up again.
''When he comes back we're going to start like he just came into spring training, go very slow. I'm working on the timetable now. We're looking at two catches, three side sessions, two batting practices, three to four games out on a rehab assignment. We're looking at about Aug. 15, but I haven't put it in the computer yet.''
Valentin eager
Third baseman John Valentin, who returned to Boston for another MRI to check the bruise on his brain, is eligible to come off the disabled list Sunday in Atlanta, and told reporters before he'd left that he'd like to play, even though it's the last game before the All-Star break. But manager Jimy Williams wasn't making any promises. ''I hope everything turns out good for the young man, that's the main thing,'' Williams said ... Martinez's 14-strikeout game was the 11th time this season he has whiffed 10 or more, the 46th time in his career and 19th time as a member of the Red Sox ... In Martinez's three losses, the Sox have scored a total of three runs ... The Sox didn't have a lefty in the bullpen available when Paul Sorrento hit a game-winning home run Tuesday night off John Wasdin. Mark Guthrie, of course, is on the disabled list with a strained Achilles' tendon, and Rheal Cormier had a stiff neck. Cormier's availability last night was uncertain at game time, but he wasn't needed anyway ... Tampa's public relations staff noted that Martinez and the Devil Rays were in a race to 100 wins last night. Tampa won, since Martinez was 99-48 going into the game, while the Devil Rays were 99-146.
