Day off? No thanks. J.D. mashes 2 homers

The migraine-like symptoms that prevented J.D. Martinez from taking his final at-bat Thursday were expected to keep him out of the lineup Friday.

But the star DH talked his way into the starting nine and let his bat do the rest of the talking while leading the Red Sox to a 6-1 victory over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

If Martinez was still feeling ill, it didn’t show.

He took the first pitch that he saw in his first at-bat and belted it over the wall for a three-run homer. In the top of the third, he mauled one over the wall in center field for a solo shot.

“He stopped by the office last night after he got treatment and I told him, ‘You're not playing tomorrow.’ He's like, ‘No, I should be OK.’ This morning he texted me right away, he let me know,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “You've got to trust your players. He's not going to lie to us. If he's feeling dizzy or has a migraine, he's not going to try to compete that way. That was an easy one.”

The migraines first started bothering Martinez in the wee hours of Thursday morning, after the Red Sox arrived in Texas following their victory at Citi Field against the Mets.

“I mean, I had a really, really bad migraine,” Martinez said. “We got in, didn’t go to bed until about 4 a.m. and then woke up at 8 a.m. with a crazy migraine and I couldn't fall back asleep. And then I got to the park, trainers did some stuff on my neck and it just released and it felt so much better.

“And then, after my third at-bat -- like right before my third at-bat -- I was in the cage swinging and getting loose and it just hit me and I was feeling terrible, like, everything was so bright. I mean, I'm sure you guys have had migraines. I got to the point where I felt a little dizzy.”

Again, the training staff helped Martinez get past the issue. That’s when he told Cora that he should be good to go.

Did the migraine come back at all Friday?

“Yeah, I woke up with it; and then came in, did some more treatment and then it went away and started up a little bit, but it's all some muscle or something that just tightens up,” said Martinez. “I don't know why it happens, but it just tightens up and then I get this crazy migraine.”

Martinez is pleased that Cora took him up on his offer to play. So are the Red Sox.

“Alex always has a good feel with all that stuff, so he knows I want to be in there every day as much as I can,” Martinez said.

Perhaps Martinez should keep coming off the sick bed. Martinez missed the game on April 10 in Baltimore due to allergies that gave him a severe head cold. The next day, he blasted three homers.

Martinez continues to be one of the best early-season stories in baseball. After hitting .213 with seven homers in 54 games last season, the right-handed hitting masher already has nine homers in his first 25 games of ‘21.

“It’s been a great start. I’ve been doing well. I’ve been hitting, been producing and we’ve been winning,” said Martinez. “Our team is in first place. It’s been a great month. Just got to keep this going. It’s been one month; there’s still five more to go.”

Yes, the Red Sox, who really weren’t picked by any prognosticators to do well this season, finished April with a 17-10 mark, good for a 3-1/2 game lead in the American League East. Entering May 1, they boast both the most wins in the Majors and the highest winning percentage (.630).

“You do that consistently over the course of a season -- you win 17 games a month -- you put yourself in the conversation,” said Cora. “It was a great month. A month that we struggled in a few things, we played well for a good period of time, but knowing this is just a start and we still have to keep working and getting better.”

As for Martinez, the Red Sox just need him to stay right where he is.

“We have a lot of guys swinging the bat really well, but J.D., to watch him do it and get back to what he does best [has been great],” said winning pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. “Last year, obviously, was a fluke for him. And to be able to see him overcome that and go out there, he’s one of the best hitters out there in the league, so it’s good to have him on our team and our side, hitting the way he is now. It’s awesome to see and I think everybody kind of feeds off that.”