Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 5, 1990 TAG: 9006050511
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
The 22-year-old Dominican tied Sandy Koufax's team record by striking out 18 batters to lead the Dodgers to a 6-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
"I was trying to remember how old I was when Sandy struck out 18, and I couldn't remember," said Don Drysdale, the 53-year-old Dodgers' broadcaster who played with Koufax. "Any time you strike out 18, you've got to be overpowering, and this was a special night."
The 6-foot-4, 173-pound Martinez fanned 14 of the first 19 batters to face him and finished with his first career three-hitter. It was his fourth career shutout and third in four career starts against the Braves. Greg Olson was the only batter in the starting lineup who escaped without a strikeout.
"Everyone who walked up there made a right turn," Atlanta manager Russ Nixon said.
Martinez (6-3) took over the major-league strikeout lead from Roger Clemens with 87 and finished two off the Boston right-hander's major-league mark for a nine-inning game, set against Seattle on April 29, 1986, at Fenway Park.
"It's a tremendous accomplishment for Ramon and I'm very happy for him," Dodgers catcher Mike Scioscia said. "The key was his fastball.
"He had total command of it inside and outside, and that set up his other pitches. His curveball was very sharp, and his changeup was good. Ramon is really coming into his own and, hopefully, everybody is going to see him fulfill his potential and all the accolades he's gotten so far."
The right-hander, who dresses only nine stalls away from Koufax's old locker, is one year younger than the Hall of Fame left-hander was when he struck out 18 the first time in 1959 against San Francisco. He duplicated the feat three years later at Chicago's Wrigley Field.
"My best pitch was my fastball," Martinez said with his elbow in a bucket of ice. "I was consistently throwing on the outside part of the plate. It was the best feeling of my life. I felt great when I was warming up.
"During the game, I was relaxed, throwing the ball well, throwing strikes and putting the pitches where I wanted. I didn't know how many strikeouts I had. I wasn't counting."
But he got the message after fanning Jeff Blauser for the third time on three pitches to tie Koufax. He had four outs remaining, but usually erratic-fielding first baseman Mickey Hatcher stabbed two shots by Olson and Oddibe McDowell that were headed for the right-field corner and turned them into unassisted putouts.
"It would have been funny if a pop foul went up behind home plate with two outs in the ninth inning," Scioscia said. "I might have had to let it tick off my glove and maybe give him another shot."
Martinez's strikeout total was the highest in Dodger Stadium history. He fell one shy of the National League mark shared by Tom Seaver (1970), Steve Carlton (1969) and Charles Sweeney (1884).
It also eclipsed the season's major-league high of 16 by Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers April 26 in a complete-game victory against the Chicago White Sox. The previous NL high was 15, recorded by Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets against the Dodgers May 11 at New York.
"I don't know how everybody else hits the guy," said Atlanta's Dale Murphy, who is 1-for-13 lifetime against Martinez. "He had a good moving fastball and he had some good changeups, too. Against us, he does pretty much what he wants to do."
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB