MINNESOTA ? Todd Sears showed up at the Metrodome wondering whether he’d be at Triple-A Rochester by nightfall. His day ended with four RBIs and his first career homer — off Pedro Martinez, no less.

Sears led Minnesota to a 5-0 victory on Friday over the Boston Red Sox and their ace for the Twins’ ninth win in 10 games.

Minnesota sent rookie Michael Cuddyer to the minors instead of Sears to accommodate utility infielder Denny Hocking’s activation from the disabled list.

“The last couple days, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Sears said. “When I came to the field today, I knew there was a chance I could go to Triple-A. That’s how baseball is. You just don’t know.”

Martinez, who hasn’t spoken to the media in nearly a month, may not have been at full strength. He was stretching next to the mound several times during the game, and Red Sox manager Grady Little noticed something “a little out of the ordinary in the fourth inning.

“We’ll check him out tomorrow, find out what’s wrong,” Little said. “It was something down in the groin area. He said he felt fine.”

Martinez (3-2) lasted only five innings, surrendering eight hits, five runs and a walk while striking out four. His ERA rose to 3.15, and the 83 pitches were his lowest total in eight starts this season.

Healthy or not, the Twins were still happy.

“Anytime you go up against Pedro and you get some runs, you feel pretty fortunate,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We know he’s going to be one of the best pitchers in this game for some time. We feel pretty good about ourselves.”

Jacque Jones went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the defending AL Central champions, who began the season 10-14 but have since returned to their 2002 form.

Minnesota's Jacque Jones (11) congratulates teammate Todd Sears, right, after Sears hit a three-run home run. The Twins blanked the Red Sox, 5-0, Friday night in Minneapolis.

Johan Santana, in a spot start for the injured Rick Reed (strained back), pitched five shutout innings.

Mariners 6, White Sox 3

Seattle — Ryan Franklin pitched 71¼3 strong innings and Carlos Guillen tripled twice as Seattle beat Chicago. The Mariners bounced back after losing 16-5 to the New York Yankees Thursday night, the most runs ever scored by a Seattle opponent at Safeco Field.

Franklin (3-2) beat the White Sox for the second time in eight days despite giving up a two-run homer to Jose Valentin on his fourth pitch of the game.

Franklin allowed three runs on nine hits. Jeff Nelson pitched the ninth for his third save in five opportunities.

Guillen tied the Mariners’ team record with his two triples. It was the 11th time that a Mariners’ player had done it, with Ichiro Suzuki the most recent on April 21, 2002.

Dan Wright (0-1), a 14-game winner for Chicago last season, made his season debut for the White Sox and lasted 41¼3 innings.

Athletics 7, Yankees 2

Oakland, Calif. — Terrence Long’s inside-the-park homer capped a five-run eighth inning to lead Tim Hudson and Oakland past New York. The defending AL West champion A’s took two of three games last week at Yankee Stadium and have won 11 of 14 to improve to a season-best nine games over .500.

Oakland spoiled a solid outing by Yankees starter Jeff Weaver (2-2), who allowed two runs in seven innings before falling apart in the eighth.

Mark Ellis led off with a single and went to second on Scott Hatteberg’s sacrifice bunt. Eric Chavez then singled to center to give the A’s a 3-2 lead. One out later, Erubiel Durazo walked and Ramon Hernandez followed with a two-run double to knock out Weaver.

Hudson (3-1) allowed two runs and five hits in eight innings to beat the Yankees for the first time in six regular season starts.

Indians 9, Rangers 5

Arlington, Texas — Omar Vizquel had four hits and Matt Lawton had the only home run in a game in which Texas’ Rafael Palmeiro was trying to join the 500-homer club, and Cleveland beat the Rangers.

Palmeiro was 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and two walks. He hit a two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning.

Palmeiro moved into 25th place on the career RBIs list with 1,597, passing Mike Schmidt and George Brett.

Devil Rays 2, Tigers 0

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Jim Parque didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning in his first start off the disabled list and Travis Lee had a solo homer as Tampa Bay beat Detroit.

John Rocker made his debut for Tampa Bay, walking both batters he faced in the eighth inning. He received a loud ovation from the Tropicana Field crowd when introduced and there were some boos when he was replaced by Lance Carter.

The former Atlanta, Cleveland and Texas reliever had been pitching at Double-A Orlando, where he didn’t allow a run in four innings in four appearances after signing a minor league contract April 10.

Angels 6, Blue Jays 1

Anaheim, Calif. — Aaron Sele became the second Anaheim starter in two games to come off the disabled list and win, pitching the Angels past Toronto. Shawn Wooten hit a two-run homer and Adam Kennedy and Tim Salmon each drove in a pair of seventh-inning runs for the Angels, who have won four straight since getting swept last weekend at Toronto.

Sele (1-0) allowed just two hits and one run over 52¼3 innings in his first start since having surgery Oct. 18 to repair his right rotator cuff.

Shannon Stewart opened the game with a bloop single and No. 9 hitter Jayson Werth homered in the fifth off Sele.

Sele struck out four and walked four.