Nick Martinez goes the distance in win against A’s

It was smooth sailing for Martinez here through six innings. To that point, he’d allowed just four hits, one walk, and one run. Yet, the Rays decided to try and push him through the seventh despite already being at 79 pitches when he’s only averaged around 84 per start this season. He let two runners on, was yanked, and then reliever Garrett Cleavinger gave up a grand slam that let the Rangers right back in this game. Yet, the Rays narrowly escaped and Martinez earned his 14th win, tied for fifth-most in the league to go along with a gorgeous 3.04 ERA. He’s scheduled to face the Braves on the road next time out.

Martinez held the Padres scoreless through two innings before a pair of hits put a run on the board for San Diego in the third. He’d toss two more scoreless frames, then gave up a two-run homer to Ty France in the sixth. The 36-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 2.99 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and a 91/22 K/BB ratio across 153 2/3 innings. He’ll take on the Rangers in Texas on Thursday.

Martinez threw 86 pitches while striking out four, lowering his ERA to 2.93. It was a bounce-back following his worst start of the season earlier this week. The performance was much-needed for the Rays, who entered the day having lost seven of nine and ceding some of their lead to the Yankees in the AL East. Martinez’s season-long ERA has been built mostly on a dominant stretch in April and May, but he’s still capable of outings like this and remains a near must-start in fantasy. He’s scheduled to pitch at home against the Padres next time out.

Martinez gave up nine hits, walked two and struck out five. He fell to 12-4 with the loss. Martinez entered play Tuesday with a 2.74 ERA despite a 4.54 xFIP. He’s out-pitched his xFIP for most of his career, but not by that much. Martinez now has a 3.05 ERA. He’s lined up to face the Orioles on the road on Sunday.

Even Coors Field was no match for Martinez’s sometimes shocking ability to keep runs off the board. In this game he didn’t force many whiffs, the Rockies had seven hard-hit balls, and put constant traffic on the bases. It amounted to nothing though as Martinez had his 16th start this season where he’s allowed two or fewer runs while completing at least five innings. His changeup and sinker forced enough timely ground balls and he did well to not allow a free pass despite only throwing a first-pitch strike to 12 of the 22 batters faced. His 2.65 ERA is fourth-lowest in the American League as his highly effective season rolls on. Next up will be another tall task as Martinez is scheduled to face the Athletics in hitter-friendly Sacramento.

Martinez fell victim to the long ball twice in the first two innings, allowing solo blasts to Miguel Vargas and Andrew Benintendi to put his team down 2-0 early. In the third inning, Martinez gave up a two-run homer to Munetaka Murakami to push the White Sox’s lead to 4-0. It was the worst outing of the season for Martinez, who hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any start this season. He’ll look to bounce back in his next start, which is scheduled for Wednesday against the Rockies.

Martinez was outstanding against the Guardians on Saturday, holding them scoreless over six easy frames. He scattered four hits and did not walk a batter, tossing 60 of 84 pitches for strikes. He struck out five. The 35-year-old right-hander will take a 2.45 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and a 67/20 K/BB ratio across 117 1/3 innings into a start against the White Sox in Tampa Bay on Friday.

It hardly qualifies as a dominant performance. Martinez failed to record a strikeout and generated just four swinging strikes, but he limited Toronto’s lineup to four hard-hit balls and no extra-base hits. He needed only 82 pitches to navigate six efficient innings and pick up his ninth win of the season, which matters for fantasy purposes. The lone run against him came on an RBI single from Alejandro Kirk with two outs in the fourth. The 35-year-old has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 18 of his 19 starts in his Rays debut. He’ll bring a 2.59 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 62/20 K/BB ratio across 111 1/3 innings into a home outing against the Guardians on Saturday to wrap up a two-start week.

It was another solid outing for Martinez, who pitched four straight frames of scoreless ball before Mariners second baseman Cole Young put the Mariners on the board with his 11th homer of the season in the top of the fifth inning. Martinez would be pulled with runners on the corners and one out in the sixth inning and was charged with a second earned run when J.P. Crawford came in to score on a fielder’s choice. Martinez induced plenty of weak contact on the night while striking out just one batter, and has now held opposing teams to two earned runs or less in three straight games. Martinez has been a pleasant surprise for the Rays through the first half of the season. He enters the All-Star break with an 8-2 record and a 2.61 ERA.

Martinez cruised through five scoreless innings before his third battle with Yordan Alvarez. In his first two at-bats, it took Martinez seven pitches to retire him. That third time, Alvarez homered on the fifth pitch he saw, a sinker that missed its spot and wound up belt high. Then, Isaac Paredes reached on an infield single and Martinez was pulled at just 85 pitches. That means that nearly one quarter of all the pitches Martinez threw in this game were to Alvarez. That’s baseball at its best. No other hitter gave him trouble and he left the game with a 2.61 ERA through 100 innings this season. He’ll close out his first half with a start against the Yankees at home.