Martinez Checkmates Montreal’s Grand Plan

In the chess match that unfolded in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday, the Montreal Expos made all the right moves, but the Padres still had them in check.

Bases loaded. Two outs. At the plate, Carmelo Martinez. As Manager Jack McKeon would say a few moments later, Martinez is no mere pawn in these situations.

Tim Burke fell behind in the count, 1-0, and then didn’t get as much drop on a sinker as he would have liked. Martinez grounded it up the middle. Burke got his bare hand on the ball but couldn’t slow it enough to prevent it from going into center field.

Stan Jefferson scored from third. Checkmate. Padres 5, Expos 4.

Burke, one of the game’s best relief pitchers (with a victory and seven saves in his past 14 appearances), stood in Expo clubhouse with ice on his right shoulder and elbow. Everything had gone according to plan in the bottom of the ninth, he said. But then came Martinez.

“As the inning started to develop, I became very happy,” McKeon said. “Carmelo is the kind of guy I’m comfortable with in that situation. Nobody can ever say for sure whether a guy’s going to get a hit, but he’s tough in that spot.”

Martinez’s bouncing single produced his seventh game-winning run batted in of the season, third best on the team behind Tony Gwynn (12) and Keith Moreland (10).

Over the past 4 1/2 seasons, only Gwynn (47) has driven in more game-winners for the Padres than Martinez, who has 41.

“When I get in a situation like that, I concentrate more on just putting the ball in play and hitting it where it’s pitched,” Martinez said. “I don’t go for the fences.”

Saying that, Martinez stopped, seeming to realize something.

“Maybe I ought to do that all the time,” he said.

If he somehow could, it’s doubtful the Expos would have made the moves they did in the ninth Thursday.

After Mark Parent doubled off Burke to open the inning, and Jefferson took over as a pinch-runner, the Expos wanted to get to Martinez.

Here was the thinking:

--First, Garry Templeton would be called on to sacrifice Jefferson to third.

--With one out, the right-handed Burke would find a way to retire left-handed hitting Marvell Wynne, setting the stage.

--Burke could then intentionally walk two more left-handed hitters, Roberto Alomar and Gwynn, and face right-handed hitting Martinez. The Padres had no left-handed pinch-hitters available.

That scenario developed. Templeton sacrificed, moving Jefferson to third with one out, and Wynne popped up. Alomar and Gwynn were walked.

“They felt like they’d take their gamble with Marvell, and it almost worked,” McKeon said. “But once I saw them going after him, I knew Tony wasn’t going to get a shot.”

Which meant that Martinez was going to get one.

“I’ve faced him before, but I didn’t really remember anything special,” Burke said. “I just tried to get him to hit in on the ground, and I did. Unfortunately, nobody could get it.”