Five Cuts: Pedro primed for what could be his finale on the big stage

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Pedro Martinez will start in Game 2 of the World Series after 12 days of rest. Jeff Lewis/Icon SMI World Series 2009 Game 6 Yanks 7, Phillies 3 | Box Score | SI Photos Posnanski: It was simply the Yanks' year Jenkins: Lack of pitching depth cost Phils Matsui named MVP after 6 RBIs in clincher Jeter, Pettitte, Posada, Rivera win 5th title Phillies' bid for repeat falls short vs. Yanks A-Rod enjoys moment after year of turmoil Steinbrenner wins seventh title as owner SI Photos Game 6 highlights All 27 championships Previous Coverage Select an option Game 5 Utley's homers help Phils force Game 6 Jenkins: Both managers deserve heat Posnanski: Utley's sweet swing delivers SI Photos: Select shots from Game 5 Game 4 A-Rod's late heroics put Yankees on brink Jenkins: Yankees take control of series Posnanski: Damon makes the difference SI Photos: Select shots from Game 4 Game 3 Yankees power past Phillies in Game 3 Verducci: Hamel's gaffe dooms Phillies Keith: Yankees finally break out the bats SI Photos: Select shots from Game 3 Game 2 Yanks chase Pedro, even World Series Verducci: Manuel's key decisions backfire Posnanski: Another great escape for Mo Keith: Even in loss, Pedro grabs spotlight Jenkins: Teixeira, Burnett come up huge SI Photos: Select shots from Game 2 Game 1 Lee, Utley overpower Yankees in opener Posnanski: Cool hand Lee stifles Yankees Jenkins: Utley lets hit bat do the talking Keith: Yankees' bats silenced in opener SI Photos: Select shots from Game 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Reiter: Five reasons the Yankees will win Jenkins: Five reasons the Phillies will win Keith: Position-by-position breakdown Corcoran: Players who need to step up Verducci: East Coast Baseball jinx Jenkins: Historic showdown on tap Heyman: Yankees-Phillies top matchups Podcast: Verducci previews Yanks-Phillies Tom Verducci's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Tom. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

1. Why are the Phillies starting Pedro Martinez in Game 2 rather than Cole Hamels? Officially, they relied on two very good reasons, according to pitching coach Rich Dubee: They didn't want left-handers Cliff Lee and Hamels pitching back-to-back games, and they trust Martinez on the big stage, believing the hostility and energy of Yankee Stadium will bring out the best in him.

Over the past two postseasons, Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel has alternated left- and right-handed starters every chance he could with one exception: when he used left-handers in four straight games against the Rockies in the NLDS this month.

"We didn't want to use left-handers back to back," Dubee said. "We [also] wanted Pedro in this atmosphere. Pedro handles the visiting crowd better than anybody. He controls the tempo of the game. He controls the atmosphere."

Martinez threw seven shutout innings against the Dodgers in the NLCS -- on 15 days of rest. Three days before that game, Martinez threw a simulated game in Philadelphia.

"He wasn't very sharp, and he was a little concerned about it," Dubee said. "I told him, 'You're going to L.A. When the lights come on and the adrenaline kicks in, you'll be fine.' Some guys are better the bigger the game."

It is the only game in which Martinez has pitched in the past 28 days. Martinez will have 12 days of rest this time, entering Game 2.

"I don't expect my stuff to be as sharp as I would like it to be," Martinez said. "If it is, it will be great."

Asked about his transition from a power pitcher to magician, Martinez said, "Nobody makes adjustments like I do. I invent some things in the middle of the game if I have to. If it's legal, I will try to do it."

This World Series is, upon introduction, the most dramatic and best matchup of heavyweights since the 103-win Braves challenged the 98-win defending champion Yankees in 1999. The first two games alone offer three Cy Young winners, only the second time that has happened in World Series history. (The only other time: 1995, with Orel Hershiser, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.) Good friends, former teammates and texting buddies CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee oppose one another in Game 1.

Then you get Pedro in the Bronx in a World Series game, which is the biggest kind of theatre you could ask for in the sport. It's bigger than Favre at Lambeau, Reggie Miller at the Garden, Clemens at Shea or Fenway, or Bonds at Dodger Stadium, if only because this is the World Series.

Fox already must have the video backstory cued up: the one-hitter in 1999 with 17 strikeouts, the most ever at Yankee Stadium against the Yankees; the 1999 ALCS beating of Clemens, when the Fenway folk chanted "Where is Roger?" when he was out of the game early; the day in 2003 he sent both Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano to the hospital by nailing them with pitches; the 2003 ALCS Game 3 brawl in which he made matador to Don Zimmer's bull, and the Grady Little Game four games later; the "Who's Your Daddy?" chants at Yankee Stadium in the 2004 ALCS after Martinez, weary of getting beaten by the Yanks, admitted he had to call them "my daddy."

The Pedro-Yankee War is nearly a stalemate. Including the postseason, Martinez has started 37 times against New York. The result: 12 wins, 13 losses and 12 no-decisions, not to mention 21 hit batters. Here we go again, and this time, if the event needed any more drama, it may be the finale. Martinez, 38, said he might retire if the Phillies win the World Series.

"Who knows?" he said. "This may be my very last game on the big stage."

In the Bronx, he plays the villain well. What's so interesting about it is that his manager would not have it any other way.