ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Because of the Jon Stewart-like time slot in Boston for Game 2 of this American League Division Series, Late Night with the Red Sox was scheduled to get an encore presentation early Thursday on the New England Sports Network in a boiled down, 15-minute presentation geared specifically toward kids on their way to school who couldn't stay up late enough to see the game.
Which is about 10 minutes more than the Anaheim Angels have been in this entire series.
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| Maybe Pedro Martinez is channeling his supernatural ability from above.(AP) |
"I felt like I could do anything," Martinez the Maestro said following an 8-3 de-winging of the Angels. "I just throw at the end of the season and the regular season, and I knew for a fact that a (postseason) game could get your adrenaline going, could get you to do things totally different than the way you really think during the regular season.
"Especially at the end, when things didn't really count."
Said catcher Jason Varitek: "We need him. He knows that."
If we've seen it once with Pedro, we've seen it a thousand times. Or, it seems like it. This is a guy that needs to be challenged. Geniuses are bored by the mundane, and to Pedro, September in Tampa Bay is as dull and monotonous as it gets.
October in New York, or Oakland, or Anaheim, now that's excitement. And so when Martinez took the mound to begin a cool California night here, it wasn't long until the radar gun began crackling at 93, 95, 97 miles an hour. Better yet, his fastball moved and darted.
"Usually, the first couple of innings you can tell," pitching coach Dave Wallace said.
And Wednesday's first few innings?
"Real good," Wallace said. "He didn't miss by much when he missed. He had consistent stuff."
Even with an 0-4 record and a 7.72 ERA over his final four starts of the season, it turned out, being concerned about Martinez was like worrying for a guy with a full checkbook agonizing over whether he should pick up a Corvette or a Rolls.
