Martinez in line for victory; Mixed results in Phillies debut
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Martinez in line for victory; Mixed results in Phillies debut
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Pedro Martinez saw a little bit of everything in his first start as a Phillie: An eight-run inning from his offense, a no-out bases-loaded jam in his final inning, and a cup of ice thrown from the bleachers at Wrigley Field that struck his center fielder in his face.
All in all, it was an eventful debut, one that did little to foretell his eventual fate as a stretch-run starter.
Making his first major league start since Sept. 25, 2008, the future Hall of Famer allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out five while walking one in five innings of work. He left the game after allowing two runs in the fifth inning. At the time, the Phillies held a 12-3 lead, thanks to an eight-run fourth inning that included three-run home runs by Jimmy Rollins and Raul Ibanez.
Martinez threw 99 pitches, 54 of them for strikes. He struggled with his command at times, but showed better-than-advertised velocity and an effective change-up. Martinez's last pitch, a fastball on which Kosuke Fukodome flew out to left field, was clocked at 90 miles an hour. His velocity averaged between 88 and 91, but he hit 92 on the radar gun on several occasions.
The most bizarre event of the night occurred in the fifth inning, when Shane Victorino was struck in the head with a cup of ice as he caught a towering sacrifice fly from clean-up hitter Jake Fox. The cup appeared to be thrown from the stands, where Victorino and left fielder Raul Ibanez pointed and shouted at the culprit.
When he left the game, Martinez was in line for his first victory since Aug. 31 of last season, when he allowed two runs in six innings of a 6-2 win over the Marlins while pitching for the Mets.
they will twist this story more then the ivy that climbs the walls of wrigley its known fact that if it happened here they would have a judge being paid overtime in the basement to try everybody in the front row, where as they had the guy on camera and still threw out an actual fan who did nothing more then observe what his bretren had done. perhaps the cubs fans should have been more willing to throw inthe towels after the "ice" incident, i mean they didnt use the towels to rally anymore then they did to wipe sweat and tears up.— BunchOfBull- Watch it again - they took the wrong guy out too. The real culprit was to our left. He threw it and they threw the wrong guy out! Def. was not ice - beer!— NoMoMo
- Aside from being a bonehead move, throwing that beer with that timing was extremely dangerous to Victorino's health. He very easily could have been startled and gotten clocked in the face by a fly ball. I hope that goon gets penalized severely for that. The ESPN game recap made mention of the incident with one uneventful sentence. Absolutely this would be the lead story if it had happened at the Bank.— bryneb
- Pedro looked great. The velocity was good as murph stated, but the best part of his outing was his movement on his off speed pitches and his fastball running in on righties. He wore down at the end, but Rich Dubee did a great job of settling him down in that jam(This is for you Dr. Mike).— pete inky
- Pedro gets a solid "B" for his effort-- not bad for being off 11 months. Far better than Moyer's starts especially since these Cubs are free swingers. Pedro handled both Lee & Fox quite well, I thought.— Joe Gonnelli
- Dr. Michael was the guy in the stands who threw the beer at Shane..if not then $100 says it was a close relative. The beer was aimed for Dubee but his candy arm couldnt get it the additional 400ft. Ban Dr. Michael soon..— philsfan in the atx
Comment removed.- The funniest thing of that whole sequence was the Phillies fan trying to retaliate with popcorn (or something) against that Cubs fan jerk who hit Shane with that cup.— Ski Fast
- Comment removed.
- @ leeal02, my thoughts exactly.— telly
- Why is it that no one is allowed to cover up Moyer's 5+ ERA by citing his win total, but writers, media and fans are allowed to cover up Martinez' 5+ ERA by citing "velocity", "movement" and "layoff"? I'm beside myself trying to figure out what everyone else is looking at. I was in Lehigh Valley when he got lit. I was in Reading when he gave up 3 runs to the 10th best offence in the Eastern League. And I watched him tonight give up 3 runs in 5 innings, an escaping alot more trouble along the way. In 4 starts at 4 levels he now has an ERA well over 5. As a starter he is no better than Moyer, and it's ruining team chemistry in the process. Pedro should be in the pen, which is where he will be slotted on the playoff roster anyways.— PhillyPhan4for4
- The wimpy looking Cubs fan should be kicked out of Wrigley Field for life. What a loser that punk is. I hope his boos at the brat stand saw that and fires him tomorrow.— PhillyIam
- Dr Michael, did Rich Dubee punch your baby or something? Let it go, man— HitsLikeAGurlBurrel
- it was an absolut disgrace, i hope this guy gets barred from wrigley field the rest of his life and pays a heavy fine also. this guy is a real moron. go phils!!!!!!!!!!!!!— cook924
- oh please, stop with the "if this was Philly..." c_ap!!!!! Philly has earned it's reputation.— scars73
