In one of the more highly anticipated postseason performances in years, Martinez pitched a very good game last night -- but not good enough. There were snippets when his fastball ripped across the plate, clocked at 95 miles per hour, and he looked dominant -- but not quite dominant enough.
He deserved better, but that's become a tired old refrain against the Yankees. The Red Sox are now 11-20 in games in which Martinez pitches against the Yankees.
Some of those losses have been truly demoralizing. In his previous two outings against New York, Martinez had been 0-2 with a horrific 9.49 ERA.
It wasn't at all like that last night. He battled through a nerve-racking first inning that began with six straight balls, and gave up just one run through 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven batters and kept his team in the game, just as he promised he would. But, when those hostile fans finally filed out of the Stadium -- still chanting "Who's your daddy?" -- Martinez had long departed before them, with nothing but another frustrating loss against his nemesis.
If that isn't sobering enough, consider the Red Sox have delivered their 1-2 punch in Curt Schilling and Pedro, and have nothing but an 0-2 deficit to show for it.
Don't blame the pitcher for this loss. Pedro's teammates were unable to solve the offerings of Jon Lieber, who held the Red Sox to one base hit through six innings, and at one juncture retired 13 Boston hitters in a row. Manager Terry Francona dismissed any talk that Martinez had not done his job.
"He was in line for an outstanding outing," said Francona. "We just didn't put anything up on the board. If we had put up five or six runs and won the game, we'd all be talking about how well he pitched."
It doesn't work that way when the L is posted and your team finds itself in trouble as it returns home to Fenway. Asked how he felt about the reception he received from those rabid Yankee fans, Martinez smiled, then served up an answer that was both eloquent and surprising.
