El Tsunami and El Fenomeno…Carlos Martinez and Oscar Taveras. Teammates, best friends, hermanos.
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Fitting that on the day the Cardinals celebrated the life of their late outfielder, Martinez was on the mound.
It was one year ago today on May 31, 2014 that Taveras made his Major League debut and hit a dramatic home run for the St. Louis Cardinals. As that moment and others appeared in a video tribute, Martinez stopped his warm-ups in the bullpen to watch the video and was moved to tears.
“I started to cry…it was really hard for me,” Martinez said through translator Kleininger Teran. “For a second, I thought I don’t want to throw today because I felt really sad. But then I changed my mind and got back into it.”
Asked if he had wanted to win the game for Oscar, Carlos provided the expected answer.
“Yes, and for his family because they were here too,” confirmed Martinez, who spoke with the family last night, again before the game and could see them in their seats as he entered the dugout after pitching each inning.
Taveras’ mother, Marcela Cabrera, in particular was emotional during the pre-game ceremony and was consoled by other family members in attendance. But like Mrs. Cabrera, Martinez was able to gather himself and perform masterfully to honor his friend.
“When I went into the dugout, I started to think about okay, this opportunity to get the win for us, try really hard to compete, and do it for him,” said Carlos.
He allowed just one hit and struck out eight batters in the seven innings he worked with a career high of 108 pitches.
Manager Mike Matheny called it a “benchmark” performance, but the right-hander was focused on his next start.
“It’s something that I’ll learn, I threw good so I just want to repeat–be more consistent and I’ll be alright,” said Martinez, who has not allowed a run in his last 20.1 innings pitched.
photo credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
