Martínez in 1999 of 8.46. When opposing teams had runners in scoring position, however, Martínez was even stingier. There were 138 such plate appearances against Martínez in 2000, in which opponents batted .133 with a .188 on-base percentage. Martínez struck out 58 while walking six, and allowed 17 hits. On May 6 of that 2000 season, Martínez struck out 17 Tampa Bay Devil Rays in a 1–0 loss. In his next start six days later, he struck out 15 Baltimore Orioles in a 9–0, two-hit victory. The 32 strikeouts tied Luis Tiant's 32-year American League record for most strikeouts over two games. In the span of 1999 and 2000, Martínez allowed 288 hits and 69 walks in 430 innings, with 597 strikeouts, an 0.83 WHIP, and a 1.90 ERA. Some statisticians believe that in the circumstances—with lefty-friendly Fenway Park as his home field, in a league with a designated hitter, during the peak era of steroid usage in the MLB—this performance represents the peak for any pitcher in baseball history. Though he continued his dominance when healthy, carrying a sub-2.00 ERA to the midpoint of the following season, Martínez spent much of 2001 on the disabled list with a rotator cuff injury as the Red Sox slumped to a poor finish. Martínez finished with a 7–3 record, a 2.39 ERA, and 163 strikeouts, but only threw 116 innings. Healthy in 2002, he rebounded to lead the league with a 2.26 ERA, 0.923 WHIP and 239 strikeouts, while going 20–4. However, that season's American League Cy Young Award narrowly went to 23-game winner Barry Zito of the Oakland A's, despite Zito's higher ERA, higher WHIP, fewer strikeouts, and lower winning percentage. Martínez became the first pitcher since the introduction of the Cy Young Award to lead his league in each of those four statistics, yet not win the award. Martínez's record was 14–4 in 2003. He led the league in ERA for the fifth time with 2.22, also led in WHIP for the fifth time at 1.04, and finished second to league leader Esteban Loaiza by a single strikeout. Martínez came in third for the 2003 Cy Young Award, which went to Toronto's Roy Halladay. Martínez went 16–9 in 2004, despite an uncharacteristic 3.90 ERA, as the Red Sox won the American League wild-card berth. He pitched effectively in the playoffs, contributing to the team's first World Series win in 86