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Guarding Martinez may be the best hope for Red Sox

Jack Morris, Dave Stewart, and Roger Clemens -- three guys who would have pitched with three days' rest without a second thought -- aren't walking through that door. We accept that. We accept without an eyebrow raised manager Grady Little's decision to pitch ace Pedro Martinez in Game 5, as opposed to pitching him on three days' rest in Game 4 at Fenway Park.

After much consternation, Martinez was available Saturday night. He made his way to the bullpen after the fifth inning to the delight of the Fenway faithful. But he wasn't needed. The bullpen pitched four innings of spotless relief -- three from Mike Timlin and one from Saturday night's winner Scott Williamson -- in a stirring, 3-1 Red Sox' victory in Game 3 against the Oakland A's.

We've come to accept Martinez's fragility, because shoulder problems have certainly changed the way he's been managed. He has been in the Pitcher Protection Program most of the season, averaging 98 pitches per start in the regular season, the chains taken off in Game 1 in Oakland when he threw, gasp, 130.

Watching the seventh inning of that game, with each pitch over 120, you wondered if his right shoulder was in peril.

Little and pitching coach Dave Wallace have managed this well. Their hope was to get Martinez into the postseason in his dominant splendor.

When Little made his rotation on Friday's offday, there was no surprise. Martinez is best when he pitches with full rest. Little said he thought about pitching Martinez in Game 4, but the team needed to win three games, so why not head into Game 5 with your ace?

It was a sound decision because it offers maximum protection for Martinez and gives the team a rested pitcher on the most important day of the season.

Sound, prudent, cautious. Is that what Red Sox Nation wants?

Now the flip side.

You go into Game 4 with veteran John Burkett, a 38-year-old pitcher who has held up his end as the No. 4 starter. He's pitched some gems, and there have been times when his first-inning woes (he's allowed a .370 average in the frame) has dug too deep a hole for the Sox' offense to climb out of.

Better to save Burkett, or a combination of Burkett and Tim Wakefield, for Game 5 in Oakland, where you hope the offense, the strength of the team, would snap out of its road doldrums. Burkett is 6-3 with a 5.34 ERA at home and 6-6 with a 5.00 ERA on the road.

What percent of Pedro Martinez would you be getting if the Red Sox had been so bold as to pitch him in Game 4? Sixty percent? Seventy percent? Would you take that over a 100 percent Burkett? How many innings? Five, six tops? Would you take that, too, figuring it would be the same Burkett could pitch?

Concerning the Game 4 starter, Little acknowledged Saturday, "It was a close decision. And right now we need to win a game that Derek Lowe starts, we need to win a game that John Burkett starts."

So physically, would Martinez have been able to go?

"Yes," Little said.

In contrast, A's manager Ken Macha on Tim Hudson, who Saturday was named the Game 4 starter: "My feeling is I want to have my best guys out there. I feel (Hudson's) been my best pitcher. That's the way we're going to go."

Hudson doesn't have the physical limitations of Martinez, though Hudson had a problem with cramping in his right thumb and forearm in Game 1.
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