Pedro Martinez, Boston Red Sox, July 25, 2002 v Tampa Bay Devil Rays

pedro martinez
___________________________

Pedro Quiets Tampa Bay On 2 Hits Over 8 Innings; Now 13-2, 2.50, Making Cy Young Push Grady Continues To Pencil Offerman’s Corpse Into Lineup Boston Tosses MLB-Best 12th Shutout In 6-0 Whitewash; Nixon, Ramirez, Varitek Hit HRs

Thursday, July 25, 2002
Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Boston Red Sox
Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Pedro’s Line

Box Score and play-by-play

Primo Pedro as good as it gets — Martinez takes the role of stopper seriously
Ian Browne, mlb.com

“Wonderland,” as Pedro Martinez referred to his state of being earlier this season, has been replaced by utter predictability. You no longer have to wonder what’s going to happen when it’s Martinez’s turn to take the mound.

Pedro gives Sox a split vs. Rays — Martinez allows only two hits while striking out 11
Ian Browne, mlb.com

Having suffered four losses in their last five games, the Red Sox sent the perfect cure for such a skid to the mound Thursday night. And as usual, Pedro Martinez did not disappoint. The three-time Cy Young award winner mowed the Devil Rays down with ease, pitching eight shutout innings and lifting the Red Sox to a 6-0 victory before a crowd of 33,439 at Fenway Park. He allowed only two hits and struck out 11, boosting his record to 13-2 and lowering his ERA to 2.50.

Rescue mission — In time of need, Martinez just does his thing
Bob Hohler, Boston Globe

”The sheriff was on the mound tonight,” said Brian Daubach … The sheriff, who improved to 13-2 with a 2.50 ERA (second in the American League only to Derek Lowe’s 2.33), struck out 11 and walked only one as he lowered his opponents’ batting average to .200 and followed a Sox loss with a victory for the ninth time this season.

Martinez gets job done: Puts screws to Rays in 6-0 Red Sox win
Jeff Horrigan, Boston Herald

Call Pedro Martinez the human lug wrench. Just when it appeared the wheels were going to come off for the Red Sox, the three-time Cy Young Award winner stepped in once again last night and righted the wobbly bunch. … He allowed only a pair of meaningless singles – to rookie Carl Crawford in the third inning and Randy Winn in the sixth – and was never threatened in one of his least stressful outings in recent memory. … Martinez fanned 10-or-more batters for the 85th time in his career, 58th with the Sox and seventh this season. His velocity was consistently in the 89-93 mph range, and it peaked at 94 mph. “I don’t think I saw him overthrow one pitch,” manager Grady Little said.

‘Give him the ball’: Pedro armed to carry load
Karen Guregian, Boston Herald

Shame on us for thinking the new Pedro couldn’t be as good as the old Pedro. Shame on us for practically factoring in June and July as his breakdown time with arm trouble. This morning, a marvelously healthy Martinez is 13-2 with a 2.50 ERA, and Martinez is once again the kind of pitcher no team wants to face. … “Here is a guy who went from throwing almost 100, striking 12 or 11 out, and now he’s striking out 11 or 12 throwing 88 or 89,” Devil Rays skipper Hal McRae marvelled after his team was blanked 6-0 by Martinez.

What’s happened over the course of the season, is Pedro has learned how to pitch – really pitch – throwing at lower velocities. … “He’s learned how to have command at that speed. And I’ve learned with him,” catcher Jason Varitek said of the mighty Martinez, who upped his AL-leading strikeout total to 169. “He can change eye levels at that speed. And that’s so important to complement his other pitches.”

Ace retaliates and dominates — Martinez won’t be thrown by situation
Frank Dell’Apa, Boston Globe

Nearly as many of Pedro Martinez’s pitches hit Tampa Bay batters as Tampa Bay batters hit his pitches last night. The result was a relatively phlegmatic surrendering by the Devil Rays as the Red Sox took a 6-0 victory. But this is a matchup with a history of beanball-related explosions, and this game had similar potential as Martinez’s first pitch of the fifth inning nailed Ben Grieve. But as soon as Grieve went down, umpire Mike Everitt sent a warning to Martinez to cease and desist. Martinez complied, but remained defiant afterward.

”It didn’t matter to me,” Martinez said of the warning. ”I was as ready to go out as go in. Warning or not, I wasn’t scared and I never will be. I’ve been around long enough and I know what to do. I protect my players. I don’t take nothing from anybody, even if I have to do it 30 times in a row. It’s a message I am known for. A lot of people misjudge it but that’s the way the game is played. Or the way it used to be played.” …

Pedro, what about the Yankees? “‘We are as good as they are,” Martinez said. ”I don’t think they beat us [last week]. They got lucky and sometimes lucky is better than good. We could have swept them. They didn’t play any better than we did.”

Martinez leads Sox in blanking of Devil Rays
Steven Krasner, Providence Journal 

[S]omeone had better alert the engraver for Major League Baseball’s Cy Young Award. The name of Pedro Martinez very well could be gracing the prestigious award for the fourth time in his illustrious career. … All in all, it was a vintage game for the new Martinez, who has eschewed the consistent 96-mile-an-hour radar-gun readings for the lower 90s as he sails through the season without any recurrence of the rotator cuff woes that curtailed his 2001 season.

Pedro Drills This One Home
David Heuschkel, Hartford Courant

In what had not been an easy series for the Red Sox, Pedro Martinez made it look real simple Thursday night in a 6-0 victory over the Devil Rays at Fenway Park. … Brian Daubach got knocked down in the fourth by rookie Luis De Los Santos … “I’m just happy I got out of the way,” Daubach said. “It was real close – the closest I ever got to being hit in the face. I just closed my eyes and ears and hit the deck.” Knowing the bad blood that exists between the teams, Devil Rays right fielder Ben Grieve could picture what was coming next. “As soon as I saw him throw up and in,” Grieve said, “I said, `Great, I’m the first batter.'” Martinez drilled Grieve in the back with the first pitch in the fifth, prompting umpire Mike Everitt to warn both dugouts.

Martinez a master on mound
Bill Ballou, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

This is not quite like the old days, when it was Pedro Martinez against the Free World for the Red Sox, but as the summer of 2002 heads toward autumn, Boston is becoming a bit more Pedro-dependent.

Another Martinez masterpiece
Ron Chimelis, Springfield Union-News

Just when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays seemed ready to turn Boston into their own version of Bean Town, Pedro Martinez stopped playing pitcher and started playing sheriff. … “They have a pretty young team that will swing at a lot of pitches,” Martinez said after a 108-pitch outing that served as more proof he’s as strong and healthy as ever. I won’t be comfortable until the season is over, and I’ve been healthy all season. I lost a few pounds (to 186), and I hope I don’t need them anymore. I feel better — all I need to do is stay like this.”

Pedro Returns To Form
Scott Carter, Tampa Tribune

The Devil Rays had heard the rumors and now they realized they were true. Still, as batter after batter stepped to the plate Thursday night against Boston’s Pedro Martinez, the results were strikingly familiar.

Select company
Bob Hohler, Boston Globe

Martinez allowed just four balls out of the infield as he became the only Sox pitcher to start with a record of 13-2 or better through 15 decisions in two seasons. He also started 13-2 in 1999. Five other Sox pitchers started 13-2: Roger Moret (1973), Don Schwall (’61), Boo Ferris (’45), Lefty Grove (’39), and Cy Young (’02). Two pitchers started 14-1: Tim Wakefield in ’95 and Roger Clemens in ’86. Martinez is 4-0 in five starts in July with an 0.79 ERA. He has participated in six of Boston’s 12 shutouts, tops in the majors.

Pedro rough entrée into New York — Now it’s out of Sox frying pan, into Yankee fire
Mike Petraglia, mlb.com

“Pedro was more of a finesse pitcher tonight, rather than a power pitcher,” said Hal McRae. “But he got his strikeouts. He has figured out a way to strike batters out. His fastball was never clocked in the 90s, so he spotted his fastball and mixed in his slider, curveball and change-up.”

“Usually you sit on his fastball,” added Ben Grieve, who was drilled in the back by a Martinez fastball leading off the fifth. “He was spotting his curve and his change so well tonight, you couldn’t even do that. You just had to go up there guessing. And when you do that with him, you’re in trouble.”

Martinez, like any veteran, knows his opponent. He saw a vulnerable spot early and went after it. “You had a pretty young team that was swinging at a lot of pitches,” said the Sox ace afterward. “That was pretty much it. Just throw strikes. Make them hit my pitches.”

Pre-Game

Manager on the hot seat: Little moves, big questions
Karen Guregian, Boston Herald

So it’s come down to this for the reeling Red Sox: Pedro Martinez has to be the stopper of a losing streak – against the worst team in baseball. Just when you think it couldn’t have gotten any lower for the stumbling Sox, who suffered perhaps their most devastating loss of the year in the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader with the Devil Rays, they multiply the misery quotient by getting thumped 9-5 again last night.

Back to Log or Home