Martinez’s Curve So Good, It’s Downright Laughable

Pedro Martinez was so good in Saturday’s 13-1 Red Sox victory, his best pitch was one that fooled not just the batter, but home plate umpire Rick Reed.

It was a pitch so good, it made Martinez laugh.

It was in the third inning, with a 1-and-0 count on Chuck Knoblauch. Martinez threw a curveball that started at Knoblauch’s head.

Knoblauch ducked out of the way . . . just in time to see it curve away before it even got close, curving right across the plate.

Reed incorrectly called it a ball. But Martinez knew the pitch had worked, and everyone else had looked silly. So he began laughing, out loud, right there on the mound.

“I thought it was funny that Knoblauch was running away,” Martinez said. “It looked high, he ran away from it, and then it dropped right across the plate.

“I was laughing to see how he reacted.”

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Roger Clemens issued a not-so-subtle warning that some of the Red Sox who collected six hits off him in just two innings Saturday might need to watch their backs next time.

Clemens is scheduled to start Game 7, if necessary, Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.

“I think a couple of guys are real comfortable against me right now, so I’ll have to make adjustments,” he said.

Meaning?

“I’ll have to expand,” he said.

Which means he’ll be knocking them off the plate.

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For a second consecutive year, Orlando Hernandez will be asked to win a pivotal postseason game for the Yankees today when he faces Kent Mercker in Game 5.

The Yankees can only hope that the results are the same.

Last year, with the Yankees trailing two games to one in the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians, Hernandez threw seven shutout innings in Cleveland in a 4-0 victory.

The Yankees didn’t lose another postseason game until Saturday.

“El Duque,” who only left Cuba two summers ago, has a simple philosophy gleaned from years of playing on the island: Listen to nobody but yourself.

“If you win, the other team’s fans will try to beat you,” he said. “And if you lose, your fans will try to kill you.”