Pedro Martínez, the world’s best paid baseball player, made "the greatest comeback in 98 seasons of home openers," as was described by the Boston Globe. The Dominican pitcher impressed Boston fans with a 12-strikeout, two-hit shutout in his Fenway Park debut. The 26-year-old performed to a flag-waving, name-chanting, foot-stomping crowd of 32,403 and didn’t give the Seattle Mariners machinery a chance. The Red Sox defeated the Mariners 5-0. Fellow Dominican Alex Rodríguez’s sixth-inning single along with Joey Cora’s fourth-inning single were the only Mariner hits. During the game, Martínez struck out Rick Wilkins for his 1,000th career strikeout. With that game, Martínez has pitched three times for the Red Sox, won twice and allowed just one earned run in 23 innings, an ERA of 0.39. Martínez was cheered on by a large contingent of Dominican residents in the States. The Boston Globe reported that "everywhere you looked, there were red, white and blue flags of the Dominican Republic, brought to the park by fans from Lynn, Lawrence, Jamaica Plain, and every other street corner where a merengue beat is heard." Reporter Bill Koenig of Baseball Weekly said the enthusiastic baseball fan crowd created an environment that "resembled a game during the soccer’s World Cup, where a guy from another country brings people into the stands from other places, and Boston isn’t known for that." Juan Marichal, Minister of Sports in the Dominican Republic, traveled to Boston for the game. When Martínez won the Cy Young he dedicated the award to Juan Marichal, saying that it was Marichal’s award. Marichal, a Hall of Famer, was unfairly denied the award in his time. Marichal was in the stands behind the home plate with Luis Tiant, a former Sox pitcher, both celebrating Martínez’s prowess. "Pedro reminds me of the days when Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale and I were pitching," Marichal said, pointing out Martínez’s competitive spirit. Martínez pitched the entire game. He said he delivered a message from President Leonel Fernández to Martínez. Marichal said, "The President asked me to tell him that he would be following each of his outings and was real proud of him. He said to tell him to continue to forge ahead, that he is an example for Dominican youths."
