Second chance
After spending time with the parent Red Sox last season, PawSox reliever Kyle Martin finds himself in the position of proving himself to the Boston brass again.
PAWTUCKET – Kyle Martin was asked if he was familiar with the career path of fellow Pawtucket Red Sox reliever Williams Jerez.
You know, the one where the Red Sox place you on the 40-man roster, designate you for assignment after a season’s worth of struggles, and achieve redemption with a strong performance that results in landing back on the 40-man. It’s a whirling dervish of a ride that for better or worse has earmarked Jerez’s career over the past three seasons. These days, the lefty is living the 40-man existence.
Martin has already completed two legs of this particular triple crown. He achieved 40-man status during the 2016 offseason. Last September, disappointment came when Boston designated him for assignment. Now, the hope is that he can get on a Jerez-type roll and see if that translates into a 40man spot.
Martin was credited with the win as the PawSox walked off with an 11-inning, 10-9 win over Gwinnett on Sunday. It wasn’t his finest performance – he was tagged for four runs (two earned) on three hits in two innings – though Martin did strand a runner that manager Kevin Boles noted was pivotal and helped set the stage for Pawtucket’s four-run uprising in the home portion of the 11th.
A ninth-round choice by Boston in 2013, Martin entered Sunday with a 1.00 ERA and 11 strikeouts spanning five games and nine innings. One the keys in his early-season success has been the re-incorporation of the curveball, a pitch that was key for him during his college days at Texas A&M and his first year in pro ball. When Martin landed in High-A Salem in 2014, he placed the cutter on the back burner and a greater emphasis was placed on incorporating a slider.
It was during Martin’s brief time with the Red Sox last season that the idea of bringing back the curve was first broached. Then-Boston bullpen coach Dana LeVangie suggested it, and when he was named pitching coach under manager Alex Cora, the idea gained even more traction.
“(LeVangie) thought it would be a good pitch to steal a strike with and get hitters away from sitting on the changeup,” said Martin while sitting in the PawSox dugout prior to Sunday’s game.
Martin was the 40-man roster casualty when the Red Sox reinstated Carson Smith from the 60-day disabled list last September. A righty who can dial his fastball up to the mid 90s, Martin posted a career-high 4.36 ERA in 33 games for the 2017 PawSox, al- lowing 56 hits in 53.2 innings.
“Last year was about trying to pitch good enough to catch the eye and get up to the big leagues. That’s the dream that we’ve all started out with,” said Martin. “I don’t know if there was added pressure. I just wanted to pitch good like always.
“Anytime you get told you’re not good enough to be up there, you take it as motivation. There’s no time to feel sorry for yourself,” Martin added. “This year was about coming in with a different mindset and not worrying about any outside distractions. Especially not being on the (40-man) roster, nothing is holding me back.”
Martin strung together four straight scoreless outings, spanning 7.2 innings. On Opening Day, he picked up a key strikeout with two Lehigh Valley runners on the base paths.
“Whether it’s for the starter or another bullpen guy, I’m trying to save his runs and show that I’ve got his back,” said Martin.
Pawtucket’s bullpen features a strong dose of competition with Jerez, Brandon Workman, Robby Scott, Ty Buttrey, and Roenis Elias all on Boston’s 40-man roster. A year ago, Martin owned a similar distinction. Removing Sunday’s outing from the equation, he hopes to continue his early-season upward trend.
“It’s fun to be part of a group like this, seeing how many strikeouts we can get. Healthy competition is always good for a bullpen,” said Martin.
“In the past, we’ve seen him where things have just gotten quick and he hasn’t been able to make the adjustment either with the running game or his command,” said Boles. Now he looks more confident and looks like he belongs.”
If you were one of the 5,472 fans at McCoy Stadium on Sunday, you certainly got your money’s worth.
It was a game that featured a walk-off hit courtesy of Mike Miller, a pitcher in Buttrey who touched 100 miles per hour according to the in-house radar gun, and a 3-1-6-2 triple play that helped swing momentum in Pawtucket’s favor. The triple play was Pawtucket’s first since 2014 and came in the second inning when the ball hit first base umpire Jeremy Riggs and concluded with some shoddy baserunning by Gwinnett, which at the time led 2-0.
PawSox first baseman Sam Travis picked up the loose ball after it hit Riggs and flipped to the covering William Cuevas. Shortstop Ivan De Jesus Jr. then saw Gwinnett’s baserunners off their bags and signaled for Cuevas to throw toward second. De Jesus slapped a tag on the trail baserunner between second and third and then threw to the catcher Mike Ohlman, who tagged out the lead baserunner between third and home.
“They were alert,” Boles said of his players. “I thought Jeremy, the umpire, the ball hit him, he doesn’t want to get hit there obviously and affect the game, but he didn’t call dead ball. We had [a play] last year at their place where it was called a dead ball. He didn’t call dead ball, Travis finishing the play, Cuevas getting over, then to execute two rundowns.
“To be that accurate with your throws and how efficient the triple play was. It wasn’t like it was a snowball fight where the ball was going all over the place. It was clean, and it happened quick. For all the change of direction of the throws, all the different factors involved, there was a lot of awareness on that play by a lot of players.”
Four separate ties and four lead changes highlighted the final five innings of the ballgame, as the PawSox (8-6) built a 5-3 lead in the seventh, watched it dissolve into a 5-5 tie in the ninth, evened the game at 6 in the 10th, and came back from a 9-6 deficit in the 11th to complete a three-game sweep the Stripers (5-9). Center fielder Aneury Tavarez tied the game with an RBI double in the 11th and Miller — who was prepared to pitch if the game went to a 12th inning — won it with an RBI single ripped into right.
Mike Ohlman paced Pawtucket’s 13-hit attack with a solo home run while Rusney Castillo and De Jesus each had three hits. Cuevas settled down after a shaky start to spin six innings of two-run ball.
EXTRA BASES: Steven Wright (back) played catch on Sunday, two days after leaving his rehab start after 2.2 innings. “As of right now, it looks like he’s doing well,” said Boles. “We’ll wait and see how he comes out over the next few days.” … The Red Sox optioned reliever Bobby Poyner on Sunday, though he’s yet to be added to Pawtucket’s roster. The PawSox, who played Sunday’s game one under the 25-man roster limit, will soon add Poyner and Marcus Walden, who right now is scheduled to start Tuesday’s game against Toledo. … Speaking of the Mud Hens, they’ll bring an 11-4 record to Monday’s doubleheader at McCoy. The first of two seven-inning games begins at 4:35 p.m. Chandler Shepherd (0-0, 8.31) is tabbed to start Game 1. The Pawtucket starter for Game 2 is TBA.