Rays’ Nick Martinez accomplishes feat not seen since 2015 vs. Marlins

Nick Martinez accomplished an incredible feat with his performance on the mound in the Tampa Bay Rays’ matchup against the Miami Marlins on Saturday evening.

Martinez is going through the ninth season of his career in the majors, his first with the Rays. In his mid-30s, he has proved himself to be solid following decent stints with the San Diego Padres and the Cincinnati Reds.

Going into the matchup, Tampa Bay won the series opener by a 7-2 score over Miami. They hoped to obtain the series win at home, something that Martinez tried his best to pull off. Throughout six innings, he struck out four batters while allowing five hits. This added on to his strong pitching start with Tampa Bay, as the team’s PR account revealed on Saturday.

“Nick Martinez has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his first nine starts with the Rays, tying PIT A.J. Burnett (2015) for the longest season-opening streak by a pitcher age 35 or older in the modern era (since 1900),” the post read.

How Nick Martinez, Rays played against Marlins

Despite Nick Martinez’s effort on the mound, the Rays were unable to take down their in-state rivals as the Marlins stunned them 10-5 in extra innings.

It was a low-scoring game throughout the first nine innings of regulation, seeing both teams even at two runs apiece. The 10th inning then arrived with the Marlins exploding with eight runs as the Rays’ bullpen failed to stop them from putting runs on the board.

Tampa Bay fell to a 29-15 record on the season but maintain the top spot in the AL East Division standings. They are above the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays at the moment.

The Rays will look to bounce back in their series finale against the Marlins. Game 3 takes place on May 17 at 12:15 p.m. ET.

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