It’s a rematch of Opening Night as Jon Lester and Carlos Martinez take the mound for their respective teams Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium. Martinez dominated the Cubs in that first outing, striking out 10 while scattering six hits. He’s looked significantly more beatable since, however, allowing 18 earned runs (and six homers) in six subsequent starts.
With a fastball in the mid-90’s, Martinez can really heat things up to offset a power slider and a change that sits in the upper 80’s. If the change isn’t working, though, he can really get into trouble with it. The Cubs fell victim to it in a big way during that first game, but it’s failed Martinez since then for the most part.