Pedro Martinez is looking great in New York these days and he's beginning to look pretty good in Boston again, too. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, looking at him from afar is the only way they're going to see their former pitching ace this season.

Martinez lost for the first time Tuesday night at Shea Stadium, where he went seven innings and allowed four runs in a 4-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves and John Smoltz. Martinez wasn't nearly as overpowering as he had been April 10 at Turner Field when he put the brakes on the Mets' painful start by outdueling Smoltz in a complete game, 1-0 victory in which he was as dominating as he ever had been in Boston at a time when his team desperately needed nothing less from him.

Martinez was there because he left the Red Sox in a huff last fall after they won the World Series for the first time in 86 years. They refused to give him two king's ransoms to stay at Fenway Park instead of just one. Perhaps they were right for the long haul by being fiscally conservative with Martinez but for the moment they have to be wondering in Boston if it might have been wiser to retain his services rather than use the money to bring in the likes of David Wells, Matt Clement and Wade Miller, none of whom have exactly lit up Fenway Park as of yet, although Clement and Wells have been lit up there once or twice already while trying to masquerade as starting pitchers.

For his part, Martinez has been nothing less than brilliant in the early going with the Mets. Not the kind of brilliance he showed in his greatest seasons in Boston, to be sure, but everyone knows those days are, with the exception of an occasional moment, behind him. Yet, he remains one of the game's most overpowering pitchers, a fact proven by his 2-1 start, 2.75 earned run average and (through Wednesday) major league leading 46 strikeouts.

Tuesday night, pitching on only four days rest and in frigid conditions at Shea, Martinez was without his overpowering fastball so he used an assortment of breaking balls, changeups and guile to keep his team in the game after giving up three early runs. The Mets weren't able to come back to win this time, but even without his best stuff Martinez kept his team close by throwing the kind of artful game they haven't seen much of in Boston this season with ace Curt Schilling struggling, Wells erratic and the rest of the staff as shaky as California real estate.

"I don't know how he threw the pitches he threw in those conditions,'' Smoltz said of Martinez after the game, admiration clearly in his voice despite having beaten him.

The Mets have taken note of the fact Martinez allowed 1.79 less runs per game when he pitched with more than four days rest last year than on the occasions when he was starting with standard rest and tried to set up their rotation to allow Martinez to pitch as often as possible on optimum (five days) rest. Tuesday night was not one of those occasions and predictably at this stage of his career he allowed four runs and seven hits, although he did manage to strike out eight Braves hitters. Most importantly, he gave his team a chance to come back by settling down and holding the Mets in check after a shaky start.

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