PITTSBURGH – Thanks to Pedro Martinez, a Met rotation that already was imposing now looks downright intimidating.
The bullpen? Not so much.
But at least it seems the Amazin’s can count on Martinez, who continued to put his injury-filled first half behind him with another strong outing last night in a 7-4 win over the Pirates that kept Jerry Manuel’s club perfect through five games on this trip.
In his longest stint in nearly a year, Martinez (4-3) allowed just one run while scattering eight hits and striking out four in seven innings. The result was his first victory since July 12 after a frustrating string of three no-decisions and a loss.
“It’s starting to come along,” Martinez said. “The last two outings, I’ve been making adjustments to get where I want to be.”
The Mets’ eighth win in their past 10 games kept them in sole possession of first place in the NL East and was a dose of good news on the same day the club learned All-Star closer Billy Wagner will remain on the DL indefinitely with continued arm problems.
Wagner’s absence became glaring in the ninth, when Manuel finally turned to rookie Eddie Kunz after promising all week the big right-hander would get a chance.
The move quickly backfired as Kunz was burned for three runs on three hits in just one-third of an inning. Joe Smith also struggled, but Pedro Feliciano bailed out the Mets by squelching the rally.
While the bullpen remains a concern, the starting staff continues to be a strength, with three of its five members already reaching double-digit wins and Oliver Perez sitting on nine. Martinez (4-3) is lagging in victories, but he showed last night that he will be a factor for the Mets in the pennant race.
“Pedro was outstanding tonight,” said Manuel, who is 33-21 (.611) as interim manager.
“He kept them off balance, got big outs when he needed to and threw a minimum of pitches. That was impressive. We need that type of effort going forward.”
Martinez’s velocity was only in the mid-80 mph range, but that didn’t keep him from repeatedly stifling the Pirates for the second time in less than a week with his trademark command. He walked just one and was rarely hit hard, taking advantage of two double plays along the way.
The seven innings matched Martinez’s longest outing since a Sept. 27, 2007, loss to the Cardinals.
“I actually felt good to throw hard today, but I just didn’t need to,” said Martinez, who was making his first appearance at PNC Park since injuring his calf here two years ago. “They kept swinging at my change-up.”
Martinez also singled and scored a run, but he had plenty of company in that department as the Mets teed off on former nemesis Zach Duke. The Pittsburgh left-hander, who was 2-0 with a 2.39 ERA against the Mets, gave up a leadoff homer to Jose Reyes and never settled down.
Reyes, who is hitting .346 on this trip (9-for-26) wasn’t done with Duke after the homer, though. He followed in the second inning with a triple that scored Martinez for a 4-0 lead.
The Mets would later have to hold their breath in the ninth after turning it over to the bullpen, but that couldn’t dim the encouragement they got from Martinez’s best outing of the season.
“I would love to blow away people, but that’s not me anymore,” Martinez said. “I’ll take whatever I can get now and be happy.”
So will the Mets.