Martinez fans 11 in rehab start

READING - If this was Pedro Martinez's final audition for a spot in the starting rotation, he did not make the impending decisions any easier for the Phillies.

With general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and top scout Charley Kerfeld watching from four rows behind home plate, Martinez was dominant for double-A Reading tonight in front of a sold-out crowd at FirstEnergy Stadium. He struck out 11 Trenton batters in his six-inning stint. He threw 60 of his 82 pitches for strikes. He gave up four runs, three earned, on five hits. The game ended too late for this edition.

Martinez's minor-league tour appears to be all but over. He threw as hard as 93 m.p.h. in the sixth inning and did not walk a batter.

But as Martinez dazzled in Reading, J.A. Happ shut out Colorado on four hits roughly 50 miles southeast at Citizens Bank Park. Still, whether the team inserts Martinez in the rotation or uses him out of the bullpen, his next outing will almost certainly come in a Phillies uniform.

Martinez made his third rehab start in the minors tonight. His first, in Clearwater, was rained out in the second inning. In his second, on Friday at Lehigh Valley, he allowed one run through four innings before unraveling in a four-run fifth inning.

Tonight, he allowed three runs in the sixth but did not appear to tire. He threw his hardest all night in the sixth but was the victim of two gaffes in the field. The first, a throwing error by catcher Tim Kennelly, allowed a run to score. Then, after Domonic (formerly Dominic) Brown caught a fly ball in right, he overthrew third base as a Trenton runner advanced. The ball bounced off the face of Martinez, who was backing up the play, and into the Trenton dugout for a run.

Early on, Martinez was nearly unhittable. He struck out nine in the first four innings. He was economical with his pitches, needing six at most to retire a batter. Four of the strikeouts came on fastballs. The others were on off-speed pitches.

He struck out the side in the first, but not without allowing a solo home run to Eduardo Nunez on a 1-1 pitch. Martinez left a 91-m.p.h. fastball over the plate.

But much like his last start for triple-A Lehigh Valley, when he allowed a home run to the first batter, Martinez did not allow the mistake to bother him. He struck out the next three batters and did not give up another hit until the fourth, a single by Chris Malec.

During his bullpen side session at Lakewood on Sunday, Martinez focused on working out of the stretch, a problem that plagued him at Lehigh. Tonight, he found the best solution: He did not pitch out of the stretch until there were two outs in the fourth inning.

He threw his hardest of the night from the stretch, hitting 91, 92 and 93 m.p.h. on the radar gun pitching against Nunez in the sixth.

Reading certainly appreciated the righthander's appearance. The attendance was 9,953, an all-time high in the ballpark's 58 years.