BOSTON (AP) - J.D. Martinez took plenty of ribbing in the dugout after slicing a short home run inside the Pesky Pole at Fenway Park.
A few innings later, he showed his teammates some serious power.
Martinez hit two vastly different drives for his first multihomer game with Boston, powering Eduardo Rodriguez and the Red Sox to a rare 13-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
It was the most hits Boston has allowed in a shutout since at least 1908, the team said.
Signed to a $110 million, five-year deal as a free agent in February, the 30-year-old Martinez curled his first home run an estimated 324 feet around the right-field foul pole. He hammered his second - projected at 443 feet - to the deepest part of the ballpark, beyond the center-field triangle, for his 15th of the season.
“They were making me laugh,” Martinez said, standing in the middle of the clubhouse with a smile on his face. “I said, ’I’ve got to get even for some of the ones I hit in April when it was cold out and I thought I crushed some and they weren’t even going anywhere.’ They were definitely teasing me, but I’ll take it.”
When reminded about the distance of his second one, he said: “I let ’em know.”
Martinez drove in three runs, and Andrew Benintendi had a two-run homer among his three hits as the Red Sox won three of four in the series to improve to 6-1 against Baltimore this season.
Red Sox teammate Mookie Betts is impressed by Martinez’s power to the opposite field.
“I don’t know if anybody else can do what he does, so that’s why he’s one of a kind,” Betts said. “He can also hit it out of any part of the park, too.”
The Orioles got 13 hits but lost for the 15th time in 16 road games and dropped to a major league-worst 4-19 away from Camden Yards. Adam Jones had three of Baltimore’s 12 singles.
“It’s hard to get 13 hits and not score any runs,” manager Buck Showalter said. “It’s frustrating.”
Rodriguez (4-1) scattered nine hits, struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter in 5 2/3 innings.
Leading 1-0 in the fifth, the Red Sox chased David Hess (1-1) and took charge with four runs. Benintendi hit his shot into the Orioles’ bullpen after Jackie Bradley Jr. doubled leading off.
Mitch Moreland doubled before Martinez belted his second homer of the day. His first came in the second inning.
Hess gave up five runs and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings in his second major league start.
“They definitely make some adjustments quick and you have to be able to adjust just as quick,” he said. “That’s a lineup that from top to bottom can do damage.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: 1B Chris Davis was out of the lineup because he’s been struggling against left-handers, batting only .139 (5 for 36). … Showalter said Jones exited in the seventh because he was sick.
Red Sox: Manager Alex Cora gave DH-1B Hanley Ramirez, in a 5-for-26 slump with no extra-base hits in his last six games, the day off “to work on a few things and keep him off his feet.” … Cora did the same for shortstop Xander Bogaerts, saying: “I think he only had like one off day since coming back from the DL.” Bogaerts was sidelined April 9-27 with an injured left ankle. … 2B Dustin Pedroia (recovering from offseason left knee surgery) was slated to be the DH in a rehab game at Triple-A Pawtucket.
LIKE AN INFIELDER
Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski played a foul ball that sailed into his box behind home plate on the bounce, picking it up from a tabletop in front of him. Next to him was former Red Sox right fielder Dwight Evans, who won eight Gold Gloves during his career.
DOUBLE THREAT
Martinez and Betts became the first pair of players in Red Sox history with 15 or more homers in the first 50 games of a season.
GREAT ENDINGS
The Red Sox improved to 14-1 in series finales.
UP NEXT
Orioles: RHP Andrew Cashner (1-5, 4.83 ERA) starts Monday in the opener of a three-game series at the Chicago White Sox.
Red Sox: After an off day, LHP Chris Sale (4-1, 2.29) pitches Tuesday at Tampa Bay. Sale has allowed three or fewer runs in all 10 of his starts.
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