The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - Pedro Martinez couldn't complain about a thing.

Boston's ace dominated Cleveland again, settling in after a shaky start to pitch seven strong innings and lead the Red Sox to a 5-2 win over the Indians on Thursday night.

Martinez (4-2) gave up four hits - three in the first inning - and improved to 11-1 in 15 career starts against the Indians. He's also 6-0 at Jacobs Field.

Martinez made his second appearance since publicly criticizing Boston's front office, cutting off contract talks with the Red Sox and declaring he would explore free agency after the season.

The next day, he was hammered for six runs and nine hits in four innings during a loss to Texas. This one didn't start much better for the three-time Cy Young Award winner, who quickly fell behind 2-0 in the first.

But the Indians did little after that, putting only five runners on base with just one getting to third. Martinez walked three and struck out eighth overall.

With his 105th victory for Boston, Martinez moved into a tie with Lefty Grove for eighth place on the club's career wins list. Manny Ramirez homered in the sixth off C.C. Sabathia (1-1) and Pokey Reese hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh as the Red Sox won their second straight to split the four-game series.

Kevin Millar had four hits for Boston, which went 2-5 on its trip to Texas and Cleveland.

Alan Embree pitched the eighth and Keith Foulke threw a perfect ninth for his sixth save in six chances.

Sabathia allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. The left-hander didn't walk or strike out a batter.

Martinez arrived in Boston's clubhouse about 2 1/2 hours before the first pitch, and immediately began joking with Ramirez.

"The baby is ready today," Ramirez said as he patted Martinez, who smiled from behind a pair of sunglasses. "There is no cold weather, so he is good."