Nick Martinez had the best start of his young major-league career on Saturday night in Anaheim, as he pitched more than well enough to give the Texas Rangers a win.
Instead, the outing, which saw Martinez take a perfect game into the sixth inning and a one-hitter into the eighth against Jered Weaver, resulted in a Rangers' extra-inning loss — then, their fourth straight defeat, a streak that has now reached to seven games.
Now, Martinez will look to take that confidence built from his good start to the mound on Wednesday to close out a three-game home series against the hot-hitting Detroit Tigers. On the season so far, Martinez is 1-4 with a 4.22 ERA.
Remember, the 23-year-old basically made the jump from Class A to the majors this year when he thrown into the mix to start the season when Yu Darvish began the year on the disabled list. He pitched just five games at Double-A last season before making his big-league debut.
It'd be great for him and for the Rangers if he's starting to figure things out and can play into their long-term rotation plans down the road.
