He lost also his second start in the big leagues, but still improved his chances to get a shot in the rotation next year. Shairon Martis, Dutch national team pitcher and September call up with the Washington Nationals, allowed just two hits, two runs (1 ER) and three walks in five-plus innings against the Florida Marlins on Friday. He struck out nine (five straight at one point in the game) and threw 62 of his 103 pitches for strikes. He lowered his ERA to 2.70.
The two runs against him came on a fourth-inning homerun by Jorge Cantu and on an error in the sixth. The second run was a product of the inexperience of Martis. John Baker hit a hard comebacker to the pitcher, who fielded the ball turned around and had base runner Hanley Ramirez hung between second and third. But instead of running towards Ramirez, Martis fired the ball to second base right away. Shortstop Cristian Guzman’s following snap throw to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman went wide and the Marlins shortstop ran all the way to home.
Martis was replaced in the sixth with two men on and nobody out. The dismal offense, playing without Roger Bernadina, of the 56-91 Nationals could not rally after Martis’ departure and they lost 1-2. Scott Olsen out-dueled him, picking up win number seven of the season with six solid innings.
Despite the mistake in the sixth, his catcher on Friday was impressed. Wil Nieves said after the game: “He was throwing his fastball downhill, and his changeup was unbelievable. He kept the hitters off balance, and he was hitting the corners. This is my 13th year [as a pro], so I have caught a lot of guys and he was pretty impressive.”
