Pedro Martinez’s Five Best Pitching Performances
By DJ Smith
May 20, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher former pitcher Pedro Martinez shows his World Series rings prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
On Tuesday, Pedro Martinez was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he garnered 91% of the Baseball Writers Association of America’s votes along with Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio. And while Pedro did pitch for four other teams aside from the Red Sox, most of his best-pitched games came in a Red Sox uniform. There are dozens and dozens of games to choose from, but tonight we’re going to take a look at five of Pedro’s best-pitched games in a Red Sox uniform.
5. 2004 World Series Game 3 Red Sox vs. Cardinals
Coming in at number 5 is Pedros final start in a Red Sox uniform, it came against the Cardinals in Game 3 of the 2004 World Series. Pedro fanned six Cardinals through 7 innings of work, only allowing 3 hits and giving up 0 runs. That posteason Pedro had faced the Angels in Game 2 of the ALDS in Anaheim, earning a win after going 7.0 innings and giving up 3 runs along 6 hits. The Red Sox would win that round after
belted a 9
th
inning walk off home run at Fenway Park to send the Red Sox to the ALCS against the Yankees. Against the archrival Yankees, Pedro pitched in Game 2 against
for the Yankees, and after
singled to drive home
in the 1
st
, the two righties put on a pitching duel inside Yankee Stadium. For Pedro’s final performance he faced the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 3, and he put on a masterpiece in his final Red Sox start. After a quick score by the Red Sox in the first the Cardinals managed to get the bases loaded with one out and
at the plate. After battling with Edmonds, Pedro dealt a 2-2 pitch that Edmonds drove to left field for
to catch and set up a play at the plate with
. The throw was on line for
and allowed the Red Sox to escape the inning unscathed. Pedro would then mow through the rest of the Cardinals lineup striking out some of the best players in baseball including
,
, as well as Edmonds. After going seven innings,
came in for the 8
th
and then gave the ball to
to close out Game 3. Game 3 would set up the Red Sox to sweep the Cardinals and clinch the Red Sox’s first World Series championship in 86 years.
4. August 29, 2000: Red Sox vs. Devil Rays
When people bring up Pedro Martinez, most will say that he had a chip on his shoulder during the entirety of his career. The same can be said about Gerald Williams, a player not even in Pedro’s class, but nonetheless he carried a large chip on his shoulder. So when the two met on August 29, 2000 the two would square off after Williams was hit by Martinez. In what was only Pedro’s first pitch of the game, he struck Williams with a fastball in on the wrists and after taking a few steps toward first base Williams charged Martinez with a rage of fury. The benches emptied and caused a delay for several minutes as players had to be separated, Williams would be ejected and replaced with Jason Tyner while Pedro was able to stay in the game. Boy the Devil Rays wish he hadn’t.
From there Pedro once again mowed down the Devil Rays, looking to prove something to Williams teammates who had charged the mound in defense of him. That night Martinez pitched a complete game one hitter, giving up a 9th inning line drive to John Flaherty that broke up the no-hitter, the loss of the no-hitter did not shake Pedro who had thrown 105 pitches already as he got Ozzie Guilen to fly out, along with Tyner and finally getting Miguel Cairo to line out to Nomar Garciaparra to end the nightmare for the Devil Rays.
3. 1999 ALDS Game 5: Red Sox vs. Indians
In the 1999 American League Divisional Series the Red Sox matched up with the Cleveland Indians and after a long and grueling series, it all came down to Game 5 in Cleveland where Bret Saberhagen started the game for the Red Sox opposing Charles Nagy for the Indians. The game started off on the wrong foot for both pitchers as both gave up multiple runs in the first, Nagy giving up two runs, while Saberhagen gave up three runs. The offense would not stop for the Indians entering the 2nd inning where Saberhagen gave up two more runs after a Travis Fryman home run, Derek Lowe would finish out the inning for Saberhagen getting three quick outs and limiting the damage. The Red Sox offense responded the following inning after John Valentin knocked in Trot Nixon, followed by a grand slam by Troy O’Leary that gave the Sox a 7-5 lead entering the bottom of the 3rd. Lowe would allow two runs in the 3rd in what would be his final inning of work before Pedro Martinez came out of the bullpen who was still nagging a back injury that lifted him from Game 1 of the ALDS. Some thought that Pedro’s back injury would be too much to overcome, add on top of the fact that he was pitching in a win-or-go-home game. However Pedro did not see things that way as he put on one of his best performances in his career, and one that shut off the Indians offense for the rest of the night. Pedro finished off the rest of the game, going 6 IP 0 H 0 R 3 BB and 8 SO. His performance was special to watch at Jacobs Field that night, and fans in New England started believing that this COULD be the year the Red Sox captured the World Series, and with the way Pedro was pitched that night its easy to see why.
2. 1999 All Star Game
Pedro Martinez’s performance in the 1999 All Star Game may be a bit skewed because of the limited action he faced, but all things considered this is still one of his best games of his career. Pedro started for the American League in front of the Fenway Faithful where he faced off against some of the best hitters in baseball and what came to follow was nothing short of legendary. Just taking a look at who he faced was impressive enough:
Barry Larkin
Larry Walker
Sammy Sosa
Mark McGwire
Matt Williams
Jeff Bagwell
Facing some of the best hitters during the 1999 season, Martinez was able to sit them all down by way of the K. With every pitch the crowd at Fenway grew louder and louder, recognizing that what they were witnessing was something that they would tell their grandchildren about. The night they saw Pedro Marrtinez assert his dominance as the best pitcher in baseball by striking out some of the best hitters in the game.
1. September 10, 1999: Red Sox vs. Yankees
Without a doubt the best game Pedro Martinez ever pitched was a late season game during the 1999 season, where the Red Sox were fighting for a playoff spot. They faced the Yankees inside Yankee Stadium and with Pedro Martinez on the mound, most knew that it would be a game you simply couldn’t miss. Pedro matched up against the 1999 Yankees roster that had legendary names like Derek Jeter, Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez. However they did not scare Pedro, in fact nobody in the lineup that day scared Pedro.
However the game did not start out so great for Pedro and the Red Sox, in the bottom of the first inning Martinez hit Chuck Knoblauch on only his second pitch of the night although he would be caught stealing and the Red Sox would come out of the 1st not giving up a run. The second inning brought Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, and Chili Davis, and after striking out Williams and forcing Tino Martinez to fly out to center field, Chili Davis stepped into the dish looking to start a two-out rally. On the third pitch of the at-bat Davis took Pedro deep, scoring the first run of the game for the Yankees. Pedro would settle down after giving up the home run, striking out Ricky Ledee and coming away with only the one run given up. While most were stuneed that Pedro had given up a early home run, there was hope for Red Sox fans that they could muster up enough offense to put them ahead.
For Pedro, the main focus was to shut the Yankees down and that’s what he did. Martinez went the complete game without giving up another run, or another hit, while striking out 17. Let me repeat that again: 17 STRIKEOUTS.
Pedro was three strikeouts shy of tying another great Red Sox pitcher, Roger Clemens, for most strikeouts in MLB history. Then Red Sox pitching coach Joe Kerrigan commented after the game on Martinez performance saying, “I’ve been around the game 26 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Nobody in recent memory has excited Red Sox fans as much as Pedro Martinez did during the late ‘90s, his performance was a huge reason why fans flooded Fenway Park even if it was a cold April night. If you had the opportunity to see Pedro Martinez pitch in his prime there was a buzz around the ballpark every night that Pedro pitched. WEEI’s Dale Arnold recently said that “Every night that Pedro pitched, you saw fans get up to go to the bathroom or get a beer while the Red Sox were hitting just so they didn’t miss seeing Pedro.” That is almost unheard of, especially around Boston, Pedro brought excitement back to Fenway for the first time since Roger Clemens pitched for them. There are certainly more memorable moments from Pedro’s career, and for that Boston fans will always remember the greatness that was Pedro Martinez.