BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Victor Martinez and Bill Hall hit their first home runs of spring training to lead the Boston Red Sox past the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 on Wednesday.Martinez hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Pirates left-hander Paul Maholm. Martinez is batting .265 with only three RBIs this spring.Hall hit a solo shot in the second inning, and Mike Cameron added a solo shot in the fourth.Maholm had allowed just one home run over his first four spring starts.”The home runs aren’t a bright spot on my day, but that is part of the process of spring training,” Maholm said.Boston right-hander Josh Beckett racked up nine strikeouts in five innings, fanning seven of nine batters in one stretch. He gave up three hits and two walks.”Every day’s getting better and today was by far my best day in two weeks,” Beckett said.Beckett’s strength is no longe an issue. After leaving the game, Beckett threw some extra pitches in the bullpen to get his pitch count past 95.”I’d like to stick around 95 pitches (the rest of spring),” Beckett said. “The most important thing today was that I felt good, and I finished all my pitches. I felt like I could throw any pitch in any count. That’s the feel you want to get by the end of spring training.”
 
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