Oliver Perez shut down Boston’s big hitters in an impressive outing Thursday night, striking out David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez twice each during the New York Mets’ 4-1 victory.

Perez, who appears close to securing a spot in New York’s rotation, fanned nine batters in five scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and walked none.

The 25-year-old left-hander looked a lot like the pitcher who went 12-10 with a 2.98 ERA for the Pirates in 2004. His fastball was clocked as high as 93 mph and his slider was effective down in the zone.

“I’m not trying to strike people out,” Perez said. “It’s more important to have no walks and keep my team in the game. I am happy with my velocity, and that was my best slider – as good as it was back in ’04.”

That season, Perez had 239 strikeouts in 196 innings for Pittsburgh and was considered one of the best young arms in baseball before he went 7-5 with a 5.85 ERA in 2005 and 3-13 with a 6.55 ERA last season.

“He looked sharp. He looked good,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said. “He’s getting better and better each time out. He’s coming along nicely. I like what I see.”

Shawn Green homered for New York and scored twice.

Red Sox starter Josh Beckett gave up three runs and six hits in five innings, striking out six.

Notes: Mets ace Pedro Martinez arrived in the fourth inning and watched from the dugout in street clothes. He laughed from the dugout steps in the seventh when rookie sidearm specialist Joe Smith threw a fastball behind Ramirez. The Mets cut six players, optioning pitching prospects Philip Humber, Jason Vargas, and Marcos Carvajal and outfield prospect Carlos Gomez to the minors while reassigning OF Ruben Sierra and C Jose A. Reyes to minor league camp. General manager Omar Minaya said Sierra did not indicate whether he would accept the reassignment, saying he wanted some time to think about it. With all the talk about the age and uncertainty of the Mets’ rotation, the team could very well have three starters in their mid-20s should Perez, Mike Pelfrey, 23, and John Maine, 26, continue to pitch well this spring. Perez has an ERA of 3.86, while Pelfrey and Maine each have ERAs of 1.00. 2B Jose Valentin returned to the New York lineup after missing two games with a stiff neck and promptly hit an RBI single and later scored in the second inning. Smith continued to make strong case for a spot in the Mets’ bullpen with another scoreless inning and two strikeouts. The Mets will send Tom Glavine to the mound Friday night against the Marlins in Jupiter.

AP-ES-03-15-07 2335EDT