Pedro Martinez attacks Royals Manager Ned Yost

Jorge Camargo
Contributing Writer

Pedro went through similar situations when he pitched for the
Red Sox. Photo by Charles Krupa
Pedro Martinez is again working this offseason as an analyst for TBS postgame coverage. After the AL Wild Card Game, the Red Sox Hall of Famer strongly criticized Royals Manger Ned Yost for a decision he made.

During the 6th inning, the Royals had a 3-2 lead over the A's but after the first two Oakland runners of the inning reached base, Ned Yost pulled James Shields out and brought Yordano Ventura (starter) instead of going with one of his well rested relievers. Ventura is a 23-years old rookie that had only one game as a reliever during his Major League career. The first batter faced by Ventura was Brandon Moss, who hitted a homerun on the third pitch that gave the A's the lead. The Royals rallied trough several innings and won probably the best Wild Card game of all time, but according to Pedro Martinez it was not thanks to Ned Yost.

This is what Pedro said during the TBS postgame coverage:

"Not only that, in the kind of situation, you bring a guy like that. The kid pitched the other day and had, think, 72 pitches. There's no need to bring another starter in this situation. You have Finnegan in there. You can bring the lefty. You have Duffy. You can use anybody against Moss, especially making the statement he made in the first inning and hitting the two homers. Too bad one of them was against Ventura. But I will say, remember when Aoki was the best hitter in the Kansas City Royals game? Well, that was a panic move, right? Well, i think this is another panic move from Ned Yost. He almost gave the game away. If Kansas City ends up losing that game, Ned Yost would have been the ugly goat heading out of Kansas City today."

Pedro also gave a message in spanish to Ventura, telling him that it wasn't his fault and wished him the best in his career. When TBS went to commercials, Martinez tweeted the following:


















The Red Sox Hall of Famer had two similar moments in his career with Boston. The first one came on 2003, on the 7th game of the ALCS where the Red Sox had a 5-2 lead over the Yankees. Martinez struggled at the beginning of the 8th inning, and when manager Grady Little made a visit to the mound and didn't bring a reliever, the right-hander allowed 3 runs that tied the game. Eventually, the game went to extra-innings and the Yankees won. I still remember shutting down the television even before Aaron Boone's homerun ball felt to the crowd.
The second time was the next year, also on the 7th game of the ALCS. The Red Sox had an 8-1 lead over the Yankees on the 7th inning when Pedro relieved Lowe and received huge and incredibly loud chants of "Who's your daddy?". The great right hander allowed two runs but was able to shut down the rally.


Do you agree with Pedro? How do you felt during the World Series last year when John Lackey was used as a reliever? Post your comments below.