Martinez Answers All the Questions : Baseball: Dodger pitcher silences the critics by shutting out the Cubs on three hits, 1-0.

The transformation was as sudden and vivid as that of the ivy that clings to the outfield wall at Wrigley Field. One late May afternoon it is brown. The next it is green.

Ramon Martinez took the mound Friday with two victories in nine starts, no complete games since last July and opponents collecting nine hits against him every nine innings.

Two and a half hours later, he was the picture of athletic health.

Throwing pitches to only 31 batters, Martinez held the Cubs to three hits in the Dodgers’ 1-0 victory before 28,588. Only nine balls left the infield, and only one Cub got as far as second base.

“A lot of people have questioned Ramon’s arm,” Brett Butler said. “But nobody can question it after today.”

Buoyed again by their first base trio, the Dodgers sneaked a run past starter Frank Castillo in the ninth inning for their ninth victory in the last 12 games.

The winning run was as simple as Kal Daniels’ single, Eric Karros’ double and Todd Benzinger’s fly ball.

The final outs were as simple as Martinez’s fastball. He powered it past Dwight Smith, Mark Grace and Ryne Sandberg, none of them hitting the ball out of the infield.

And to think that Martinez even looked into the dugout while walking to the plate with two out and bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning.

“I was looking for a pinch-hitter, but when (Manager) Tommy (Lasorda) let me bat, it gave me more confidence,” said Martinez, who walked one and struck out four. “I thought, ‘I better go out there and really go hard.’ ”

Lasorda said his decision to leave Martinez in the game was based on a historical observation.

“This was the best I’ve seen him throw in a year and a half,” Lasorda said.

Lasorda said he was proved right when Martinez’s 106th and final pitch was thrown as hard as his first.

“Not often in this ballpark does a guy hold a one-run lead in the ninth inning when the other guys don’t even get the ball out of the infield,” Lasorda said. “To see Ramon come back means an awful lot to this team.”

The Cubs, who have been shut out a league-high nine times, did not share the Dodgers’ enthusiasm, although they agreed with Lasorda’s assessment.

“This is as good as I’ve ever seen him,” Sandberg said of Martinez.

Mark Grace’s 11-game hitting streak was broken by Martinez, and Sandberg and Andre Dawson were a combined one for seven with an infield single by Sandberg.

“Did you see how he froze Dawson on fastballs inside?” Butler asked. “Usually Dawson can hit any fastball.”

Earning points for honesty, Martinez acknowledged that he had an assist from the wind, which was blowing in from center field at 18 m.p.h. Martinez said it allowed him to do something he has not done since bruising his biceps last Aug. 20.

“I relaxed, because I knew it would be hard for them to hit it out of the ballpark,” Martinez said. “I just wanted to get the ball over the plate, so I threw just about 11 curves, the rest changeups and fastballs.”

Said Lasorda: “He didn’t rush himself. He finally held himself back.”

It was the first time Martinez has walked fewer than two hitters, and only the second time he has pitched beyond the seventh inning. He improved his record to 3-1 while lowering his earned-run average to 3.32.

The only thing that compared to Martinez was Castillo, a second-year starter, who had allowed the Dodgers one run in 15 innings this season. He had given up only three singles--including one bunt single--until Daniels hit a grounder into right field to start the ninth inning.

Tom Goodwin replaced him as a pinch-runner and went to third when Karros doubled into the ivy in left-center field. Though first base was open, Cub Manager Jim Lefebvre allowed the hot-hitting Benzinger to swing.

A fly ball to center fielder Sammy Sosa was deep enough to score Goodwin and raise questions.

“I’m just grateful to whoever made the decision to give me the chance to drive in the winning run,” Benzinger said. “I only had, what, 10 RBIs in the last four days?”

Benzinger has 11 RBIs in five days, and the Dodgers have five victories in the six games since Eric Davis joined Darryl Strawberry on the disabled list.