Besides, the way he pitched last night, setting down the last 14 Cardinal batters he faced, with only Jim Edmonds's harmless fly to center leaving the infield, there was no need to embellish another stirring stanza to the ballad of Pedro, a song that is likely to be sung for generations to come.
So, was this 98-pitch silencing of the most fearsome lineup in the National League (two infield hits, Edgar Renteria's third-inning double, and two walks in seven scoreless innings), spun by Martinez in his Series debut, the crowning achievement of a career whose greatest moments already are gathering dust?
"I don't know about that," said Sox ace Curt Schilling, who had told Martinez the day before he had chills just thinking about watching Martinez last night and didn't come away disappointed. "There's a lot of career left in him. I'm not surprised by anything I saw tonight.
"It was a phenomenal performance, phenomenal. He was unbelievable. They had one shot and they missed, and he ran with it after that."
Actually, the Cardinals had two shots at Martinez, and fanned both times, running themselves into oblivion. They loaded the bases in the first inning on a walk, an infield hit by Albert Pujols, and another walk to Scott Rolen, but escaped when the 38-year-old Walker foolishly attempted to tag on Edmonds's shallow fly to left and was doubled up on Manny Ramirez's perfect peg to the plate.
Then came the third, when Suppan reached on an infield chopper, Renteria doubled him to third, and Walker hit a bouncer to second with the infield playing back. Second baseman Mark Bellhorn, so certain that Suppan would stroll home, never even noticed that Suppan had stopped in no-man's land. Had he done so, the Sox might have gotten only one out on the play instead of the deuce they came up with. Bellhorn flipped to first baseman David Ortiz, who then fired across the diamond to nab Suppan as he attempted to dive back into third.
Shortstop Orlando Cabrera had spoken with Martinez before the game.
