“Take a little breath,” Martinez said this past week at his locker. “I would try to throw hard and be crazy and something would happen weird. If I lose my focus now and want to throw hard, I take a moment. I take a breath. I never lose my focus quickly, like sometimes before. Right now, I feel comfortable. I feel … ready.”
As the Cardinals rallied Sunday against San Diego to score five unanswered runs and end a five-game losing streak, Martinez got his first use in his current role: Cardinals closer, with a caveat. There have been few save opportunities in recent weeks, so Martinez entered a tie game with the go-ahead run on base in the eighth inning and responded with a season-high four strikeouts in a season-high 2 2/3 innings of work.