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Pedro Martinez departs after 111 pitches, eight earned runs and nine hits. (Charles Krupa/AP)

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The ace right-hander struck out six of the first 10 batters he faced and was perfect through 3 1/3 innings before the Orioles finally solved him en route to a 10-5 win over the Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series.

The loss, which snapped Martinez's personal six-game winning streak, was his first since May 16, at Toronto.

Martinez (10-4), who allowed nine hits and eight runs over 6 2/3 innings, also lost for the first time this season at home in seven decisions.

"I felt like I made pretty good pitches," said Martinez, who was hoping to provide his own type of relief to a tired bullpen. "They just got to [them], and you just have to give them credit. I actually try to forget about it. I knew I had to take one for the team, and that was my purpose."

David Newhan led the offense for Baltimore with four hits, including the club's first inside-the-park homer in 14 years. Miguel Tejada drove in five runs for the Orioles, who defeated Martinez for the second time this season.

The Orioles finally broke through in the fourth after Brian Roberts struck out to open the inning.

Newhan reached first when he beat a broken-bat grounder to third baseman Kevin Youkilis. Melvin Mora followed with a double off the Monster in left, chasing Newhan to third.

Tejada's line drive to center fooled Johnny Damon, who allowed the ball to get by him for a two-run triple.

"The ball took a left turn while I was making a right turn," said Damon. "It definitely changed directions, because I was all set to catch the ball [chest] high."

Red Sox right fielder Gabe Kapler began his fourth-inning heroics with a diving catch to rob Rafael Palmeiro of extra bases, but the sacrifice fly scored Tejada with Baltimore's third run.

Kapler's three-run, line-drive homer to the Monster seats off Orioles starter Erik Bedard (4-4) tied the game at 3.

But Baltimore took the lead for good in the sixth with three more off Martinez, highlighted by Tejada's two-run single.

Martinez was also victimized by the game's most bizarre play. With two outs and Larry Bigbie at third, Newhan laced a drive to center that bounced high off the wall, eluding Damon. Manny Ramirez then, surprisingly, cut off Damon's relay in center.

"That was a big mistake, [which] we paid for," said skipper Terry Francona. "Sometimes you give up runs. I don't know why."

Ramirez threw to fill-in shortstop Mark Bellhorn, whose throw home was not in time to catch Newhan. It was Baltimore's first inside-the-park homer since Phil Bradley did it against the Yankees on June 8, 1990.

"[Martinez] actually had good stuff, and they hit some tough pitches," said Damon. "They caught the breaks -- the ball Tejada hit to me, there was the throw I made home that was just offline, just some tough breaks out there. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. He definitely didn't deserve to give up that many runs."

Martinez now has an 8.66 ERA in three starts against Baltimore this season.

"You know, there's nothing I can do, really," said a philosophical Martinez. "I made good pitches. Broken bats, rollers to the line ... Guys just hit another bloop hit after another. There's no other way to explain it. Let it go. And say, 'Pedro gave it up, and that's pretty much it. Pedro got shelled.' "

Bedard was the beneficiary of Baltimore's 15-hit attack, allowing five hits and four runs over six innings to earn his first win since June 28.

Kevin Millar broke out of a 2-for-22 slump with his sixth homer of the year in the sixth, highlighting his 3-for-3 night.

Mike Petraglia is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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