Long Live El Presidente! Martinez Stifles Former Teammates As M’S Win 6-1

Dennis Martinez was making the ball dance again. He was striking that stately pose at the top of his leg kick, the one that fits his nickname so well.

Yes, El Presidente was back. He was back to dazzle, brush back and shut down his former teammates - not to mention haunt them.

Martinez, who won one of the biggest games in Cleveland history two years ago, allowed two hits in six innings Monday night as the Seattle Mariners beat the Indians 6-1.

“It’s just a great reward, I guess, to be able to keep fighting, to keep doing the thing I love to do,” Martinez said. “And to prove that I am still able to help a ballclub win.”

Martinez, the winning pitcher in 1995 when the Indians beat Seattle to clinch their first American League pennant in 41 years, allowed only a single and a double by Matt Williams. He walked four and hit two - Sandy Alomar and Marquis Grissom, who played with Martinez in Montreal.

Seattle scored three runs in the first inning off Charles Nagy (1-1), and Martinez held the lead.

Jay Buhner went 2 for 3 with a two-run double in the first. Paul Sorrento, who played with Martinez in Cleveland, had an RBI single in the first and a run-scoring double in the third.

In his first start of the season, against the Indians last week in Seattle, Martinez gave up seven runs in four innings. It looked like a sad replica of last year, when Martinez’s 19th big-league season was cut short by injuries.

Though many thought he was washed up, Martinez decided to come back for one more year. He worked out during the offseason with his son, Dennis Jr., a pitcher in the Indians organization.

“I never had a doubt about it,” Martinez said, his voice broken up by sobs in a corner of the clubhouse. “It was like an inspiration to me, to see my son push me and tell me, ‘You can still do it. I see you throw. I see you still have it.”’

Martinez (1-0), who pitched the first three opening days at Jacobs Field, got his 241st career win in his first start in the park as a visiting pitcher.

“I bet you it felt good to beat the team he pitched for last year,” Mariners manager Lou Piniella said.

Martinez got nine ground-ball outs, making his fastball dance on the outside corner, then busting inside to hit Alomar and Grissom on successive at-bats in the third.

“It’s not necessarily how hard you throw, but where you throw,” said Williams, who improved to 8 for 36 in his career against Martinez.

Nagy allowed five runs and seven hits through three innings, but gave up only two more hits in the fourth through seventh. He walked three and struck out three.

Alomar went 0-for-2 and is now hitting .583.

Mariners 6, Indians 1

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Tinsley lf 4 0 1 0 1 1 .238 ARodrigz ss 3 2 1 0 1 0 .327 Griffey Jr cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .366 EMartinz dh 2 1 0 1 1 0 .341 Buhner rf 3 2 2 2 1 0 .256 Sorrento 1b 4 0 2 2 0 0 .250 DaWilson c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .256 RDavis 3b 4 1 3 1 0 0 .351 Cora 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .152 Totals 31 6 10 6 4 4

Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Grissom cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .209 Vizquel ss 3 0 0 0 1 0 .267 Thome 1b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .263 a-Seitzr1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .091 Wllms 3b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .283 Justice lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .351 Ramirez rf 3 0 0 1 0 0 .237 JFrnco 2b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .324 Mitchell dh 3 0 0 0 0 0 .211 b-Giles ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250 SAlomar c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .583 Totals 28 1 2 1 4 1

Seattle 302 000 001 - 6

Cleveland 000 001 000 - 1

a-popped out for Thome in the 8th. b-flied out for Mitchell in the 9th.

E-ARodriguez (3). LOBSeattle 5, Cleveland 7. 2B-ARodriguez (7), Buhner (1), Sorrento (2), MaWilliams (7). HR- RDavis (3) off Assenmacher. RBIsEMartinez (10), Buhner 2 (11), Sorrento 2 (7), RDavis (5), Ramirez (10). SB- ARodriguez (1), Vizquel (3). CS-RDavis (1). S-Cora. SF-EMartinez, Ramirez. GIDPGriffey Jr, JuFranco.

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 2 (ARodriguez 2); Cleveland 3 (Thome, MaWilliams 2).

Runners moved up-Justice.

DP-Seattle 1 (RDavis, Cora and Sorrento); Cleveland 2 (Ramirez and MaWilliams), (JuFranco, Vizquel and Thome).

Seattle IP H R ER BB S NP ERA

Mrtnz W, 1-0 6 2 1 1 4 1 95 7.20 Hurtado 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 2.35 McCarthy 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 1.69 Ayala 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 5.87

Cleveland IP H R ER BB S NP ERA

Nagy L, 1-1 7 9 5 5 3 3 114 5.68 Mesa 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.00 Assnmcher 1 1 1 1 1 1 14 4.50 HBPby Nagy (ARodriguez), by DeMartinez (Grissom), by DeMartinez (SAlomar). WP-Nagy.

T-2:41. A-41,184 (42,400).