April 17, 2003 ... Coming off the worst outing of his remarkable career, Pedro Martinez left little doubt after five days of private seething that he would allow almost nothing to prevent him from reasserting his dominance, even a numbing, 21-degree windchill in the little igloo in the Fens.

Martinez scattered two singles and three walks over seven innings in a 6-0 victory over Tampa Bay. The Sox ace, surging back to preeminence after surrendering 10 runs in a 13-6 shellacking Saturday by the Orioles, stifled the ski-masked Devil Rays before a shivering 30,909 at Fenway Park. After helping the Sox win their fourth straight game by completing a three-game sweep of the Rays, Martinez left the park without speaking to reporters.

The newly stingy Sox bullpen made a key contribution as Mike Timlin, wearing his camouflage "committee" T-shirt as one of his layers against the cold, blew down the Rays in order in the eighth inning and shrugged off a couple of singles in the ninth to preserve the shutout.

Despite the 33-degree game-time temperature, which dropped through the evening amid a steady sea breeze, Sox hitters made the most of a pitcher's night, with Kevin Millar leading the way. Millar, who has played through sleet in Portland, Maine, and snow in Calgary, Alberta, homered off Tampa Bay starter Joe Kennedy into the Monster seats leading off the fourth inning for the only run Martinez would need. He also delivered a run-scoring single in the four-run sixth.

The cold-despising Nomar Garciaparra responded as well, doubling to trigger the sixth-inning outburst and making a sensational defensive play to end the third inning. Yet Garciaparra, like most of his teammates, credited Martinez with keeping the conditions more bearable. Varitek chipped in, too, tripling in two runs in the sixth - his first triple since July 19 at Yankee Stadium and his first at Fenway since May 28, 2001. And in another first, Doug Mirabelli snapped a season-opening 0-for-15 skid by singling in the sixth. He then homered off a Coke bottle above the Monster in the eighth.

At the start, it looked for an instant like Martinez could be poised for another rocky outing. Carl Crawford opened the game by lacing Martinez's first pitch into center fielder Johnny Damon's glove, and two batters later Aubrey Huff ripped another ball to center, this one for a single. Ben Grieve then finagled a walk, advancing Huff to second. But Al Martin popped out on the next pitch, an 86-mile-an-hour cutter, to end the inning and clear the way for Martinez to coast.

As the night grew colder, Martinez warmed up, allowing only three other Tampa Bay batters to reach base. With two out in the third, Rocco Baldelli, who had not walked in 60 at-bats, drew his first big league pass. But Baldelli went no farther as Garciaparra made a terrific play on a grounder by Huff, backhanding the ball in the hole, leaping, and firing across his body to get Huff.

Second baseman Todd Walker helped Martinez in the fifth inning when he leaped to snare a line drive and deprive Toby Hall of a hit. And after Huff wangled a two-out walk in the sixth, becoming the first Ray to reach since Baldelli, Walker took a feed from Garciaparra on a grounder by Grieve to end the inning. By then, the Sox were leading, 1-0, thanks to Millar jacking an 87-m.p.h. fastball from Kennedy for his fourth homer of the season.

Otherwise, Kennedy kept the Sox at bay until the sixth, when Garciaparra started trouble by doubling down the left-field line. Manny Ramirez belted a ball in the same direction, and this time a fan interfered, giving Ramirez a double and the Sox another run. Millar then singled down the line, knocking in Ramirez for a 3-0 edge, before Shea Hillenbrand bounced into a double play. But the Sox rolled on with two outs. First, Mirabelli singled his way out of his slump. Then Bill Mueller singled to left, moving Mirabelli to second and bringing up Varitek, who crushed his two- run triple to the warning track in center, making it 5-0.

The Rays mustered their second hit off Martinez, a single to center by Marlon Anderson with one out in the seventh. But he, too, went nowhere as Damion Easley promptly grounded into a double play. And the Rays were frozen out thereafter.

Imagine a regular right fielder arriving for work with a .359 batting average (and .468 on-base percentage) and finding out he would start the game on the bench. Meet Trot Nixon, who gave way to Kevin Millar, who started the night with even more impressive numbers: a .400 batting average and .481 on-base percentage. More important, Millar was batting .455 (5 for 11) against lefthanders, while Nixon was hitting .182 (2 for 11) against them. Lefthander Joe Kennedy started for the Devil Rays. But Nixon, who has looked far more comfortable against lefties this season despite his low average, had no beef.

Millar, meanwhile, extended his hitting streak to 13 games with his fourth-inning homer, his fourth shot of the season. His streak is the longest to start a season for a Sox player since Lee Tinsley hit in 14 straight games to open the 1995 season.

Doug Mirabelli, who was hitless in 13 at-bats entering the game, got the nod at designated hitter largely because he was 2 for 6 with a homer against Kennedy. Mirabelli went 2 for 4, with his first homer of the season, in the eighth off Seth McClung. Todd Walker, who walked in the first inning, has reached base in 14 straight games to start the season. With solo shots by Millar and Mirabelli, the Sox homered in their eighth straight game and 13th of their last 14.