Nick Martinez already had the franchise record for consecutive starts of allowing three or fewer earned runs, and on Thursday night he kept it alive despite taking his first loss on the season.
Martinez's record fell to 4-1 on the season as his ERA "climbed" over 2.00 to 2.03 as the young righty went seven innings and allowed two runs, a really nice line that the Rangers couldn't hold up as they were facing Boston prospect Eduardo Rodriguez in his big-league debut.
The start marked Martinez's 16th consecutive of three or fewer earned runs dating back to his last six starts of 2014 and all 10 of 2015.
Martinez's strikeout numbers are horribly low (he has 35 in 10 starts), so it's hard to imagine him keeping up this spectacular run with an ERA that puts him in the mix for tops in the AL. But, it isn't out of the realm of possibility to envision him finishing the year with an ERA in the mid-3.00s, which would be phenomenal and well beyond anyone's expectations for him heading into this season.
