After his first three pitches peaked in the low 80's, New York Mets fans were beginning to wonder what sort of comeback this would be for Pedro Martinez.
Two singles, a sac fly, another base hit and a stolen bag later, the Cincinnati Reds were already up, 2-0. But being the veteran that he is, Martinez took a deep breath and forced a grounder and a fly-out to pitch out of trouble.
With the first frame behind him, the 35-year-old righty settled in and fanned Scott Hatteberg to lead off the second. Opposing pitcher Aaron Harang went down swinging to end it, marking Pedro's entrance into the elite 3,000 Strikeout Club.
After major shoulder surgery and 11 months away from the mound, Martinez managed five innings with 76 pitches, one over his proposed limit. Leading the Mets to a 10-4 victory with a strong four-inning performance from the bullpen, Pedro struck out four and walked three, giving up 3 runs -- 2 earned -- on just five hits.
He is just the 15th pitcher in big league history to reach the milestone, with the last being Boston Red Sox veteran, Curt Schilling in August of 2006.
[New York Times]
2 comments:
Wait, now there's THREE of you?
Is it May sweeps already?
Triple the good times had by all!
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