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Pedro Martinez
will try to start the season with four straight wins for the first time since 2000 when the
New York Mets
meet the
San Diego Padres
in the third of four games at Petco Park.
Six years ago, Martinez opened the season with five wins in a row while with the
Boston Red Sox
. He finished 18-6 with a 1.74 ERA and 284 strikeouts en route to his second straight Cy Young Award and third overall.
He is 8-3 with a 3.16 ERA and one save in his career against San Diego, where he had one of the best games of his career.
Pitching for Montreal on June 3, 1995, Martinez tossed nine perfect innings before
Bip Roberts
led off the 10th inning with a double as the Expos went on to a 1-0 win.
Martinez (3-0, 3.66 ERA) remained perfect for New York (11-5) after allowing three runs and six hits with two walks and a
season-high eight strikeouts Monday in a 4-3 win over Atlanta.
San Diego (7-9) will send
Chris Young
(2-0, 2.95) to the mound when he makes his first career start against the Mets. The right-hander lasted a season-high seven
innings in his last start Monday at Colorado, allowing a run and five hits in the Padres' 5-2 win.
Both pitchers have held opposing hitters in check this season. Martinez is limiting batters to a .188 average, Young just
a .154 clip.
Former Mets outfielder
Mike Cameron
is expected to make his debut for San Diego on Saturday after his second injury rehab assignment Friday night with Single-A
Lake Elsinore. He played all nine innings and went 1-for-4 with a single.
Cameron was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 1 with a strained left oblique muscle.
He also will be playing his first game since a violent collision on Aug. 11 with Mets center fielder
Carlos Beltran
while chasing a fly ball. The incident - which coincidentally took place at Petco Park - left Cameron with a broken nose,
multiple fractures of both cheekbones and a concussion.
It also ended his career with the Mets, as he was traded to San Diego in the offseason for outfielder
Xavier Nady
.
''Maybe it's a test from a higher power, to be able to come back and play in the same place,'' Cameron said after being dealt
on Nov. 18. ''I was thinking the other day, 'Man, I'm going to the same place.' I guess the good Lord wants me to get rid
of my fears right away. I'll be all right.''
San Diego is the fifth stop for Cameron in his 12-year major league career. He also played with the
Chicago White Sox
, Cincinnati and Seattle.
San Diego needed 14 innings Friday as
Brian Giles
doubled in
Geoff Blum
from first base with the winning run in the Padres' 2-1 victory.
Blum had been 0-for-11 before hitting a single to lead off the inning. His last hit also came in the 14th inning - a tiebreaking,
two-out solo homer to win Game 3 of the World Series for the
White Sox
last year.
''This game is very humbling,'' Blum said. ''To go the first two weeks without a hit. The guys had a good time, keeping things
loose and I deserved to get that first hit ball. Hopefully it's one of many more to come.''
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