Toronto ? For the second time in a month, Pedro Martinez defeated Roy Halladay in a matchup of Cy Young Award winners.

Martinez retired 15 of his first 17 batters, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 victory Tuesday night, their fourth in five games.

Martinez (2-1) struck out six in seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits. He also defeated Halladay (1-3) on April 10 at Boston.

“I felt a lot better inside here than last time,” said Martinez, who gave up seven earned runs against Baltimore last Thursday. “I felt loose and didn’t have a hard time warming up. I had my normal routine back, and that was the difference.”

Toronto reliever Terry Adams nearly hit Manny Ramirez in the head in the eighth inning, and the Boston slugger walked out from the plate as the benches emptied, but things quickly settled down.

“The first thing the umpire said was it wasn’t on purpose,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “It wasn’t guys looking to go to fight. These guys are competitive, and Manny just reacted.”

Toronto lost its fourth straight and dropped to 3-10, matching its worst start (1981). The Blue Jays are 0-7 at SkyDome — the first major league team to lose its first seven home games since the 1997 Chicago Cubs.

“We’re not playing like the type of team were capable of,” Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca said.

Jason Varitek was 3-for-3, and Bill Mueller scored two runs for the Red Sox, who had just won three of four against the New York Yankees in Fenway Park.

Keith Foulke pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in four tries, completing a five-hitter.

“Pedro had tremendous stuff,” Varitek said. “With that stuff, they were lucky to get one across to be honest.”

Carlos Delgado, batting .119 (5-for-42) coming in, went 2-for-4.

Boston's Pedro Martinez delivers against Toronto. Martinez logged the victory as the Red Sox defeated the Blue Jays, 4-2, Tuesday night in Toronto.

Yankees 11, White Sox 8

Chicago — Struggling Alex Rodriguez got the Yankees going with an unlikely hit — a bunt single, and New York scored seven first-inning runs and beat Chicago. The Yankees got back to .500 with their biggest first inning in nine years as they routed Mark Buehrle (1-1) in a game delayed twice by rain — 12 minutes at the start and 72 minutes after the second.

Jorge Posada drove in four runs and had three hits, including a two-run single in the first and a solo homer in the eighth. Miguel Cairo capped the first-inning outburst with a three-run double.

Rodriguez went 3-for-6 and improved his average from .160 to .196 with his second multi-hit game of the season, his previous one coming April 14 against Tampa Bay.

Twins 6, Tigers 4

Minneapolis — Lew Ford, Michael Ryan and Nick Punto each drove in two runs to lead Minnesota to its sixth straight victory. Ryan, a seldom-used outfielder who beat out Ford this spring as the last position player on the roster, went 3-for-3 for the Twins.

Rondell White hit a two-run homer, his second in as many games, to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning. Carlos Guillen put them up 4-3 with a two-run single in the sixth, but starter Jason Johnson (1-3) couldn’t hold it.

Carlos Silva (2-0) won his second straight start for the Twins, allowing four runs, six hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out one, and watched Juan Rincon, J.C. Romero and Joe Nathan finish up with scoreless relief.

Mariners 2, Athletics 1

Seattle — Raul Ibanez homered to tie the game in the seventh and then again in the ninth to give Seattle a victory over Oakland. The Mariners have won four straight, including consecutive 2-1 wins over the A’s. Ibanez hit a 2-2 pitch off Jim Mecir (0-1) to right to end the game. It was his first career multihomer game. Ron Villone (1-0) pitched the eighth and ninth for Seattle, allowing just one walk.

Rangers 6, Angels 3

Anaheim, Calif. — Brad Fullmer homered and drove in two runs in his first game in Anaheim since leaving as a free agent in the offseason, leading Texas over the Angels. Kenny Rogers (3-0) allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings, striking out three and walking two. The victory was the left-hander’s 104th with the Rangers, tying Bobby Witt for second place on the franchise list behind knuckleballer Charlie Hough’s 139.

Orioles 9, Devil Rays 1

Baltimore — Sidney Ponson pitched a four-hitter, and Rafael Palmeiro drove in three runs to lead Baltimore to its fifth straight victory. Melvin Mora homered, and Miguel Tejada and Javy Lopez both had three hits and an RBI for the surprising Orioles, who maintained their perch atop the AL East. Palmeiro moved ahead of Cal Ripken into sole possession of 17th place on the career RBIs list with 1,698. With three singles, he now has 5,002 total bases — also 17th on the career list.

Late Monday

Mariners 2, Athletics 1, 14 innings

Seattle — Justin Duchscherer balked home Quinton McCracken with one out in the 14th inning, giving Seattle a victory over Oakland. Duchscherer (0-1), the fifth A’s pitcher, balked on an 0-2 pitch while facing Scott Spiezio with runners on first and third.