The Daily Philadelphian

Uncle Charlie’s decision to use both Joe Blanton and JA Happ in Thursday’s 5-4 loss to the Rockies may turn the Phillies manager from Dallas Green into Grady Little overnight.

Pedro Martinez gets the start in Game 3 of the NLDS.

Pedro Martinez now must start on Saturday night in a game that the Phillies need to win. Blanton and Happ have both been among the team’s most consistent pitchers all season. In limited time with the Phillies, Martinez has shown flashes of both his old Cy Young self and the pitcher who spent the last three years in New York playing for his daddy’s stepson — the Chokers Mets.

Now, with the NLDS knotted at 1-1, Pedro will take the mound on Saturday when temperature is projected to be in the 20s and snow showers are predicted to infiltrate Coors Field.

Martinez hasn’t pitched deep into a game in nearly three weeks due to a stiff neck. Let’s hope he doesn’t reaggravate the injury because of jerking around to watch balls flying over the wall in the cold Colorado night.

Pedro, who won a World Series with Boston in 2004, is capable of pitching in high pressure, playoff situations. However, the guy can’t go more than 100 pitches anymore. His last outing came over a week ago, when he tossed 84 pitches in four innings.

With so many questions in the Phils bullpen, how can you send Pedro out in Game 3 with the series tied at one game each, especially when you know he won’t go more than six innings at most?

Of course, the six innings assumes he doesn’t hurt his neck or pull something else in such cold whether. The training staff better have some stretching planned between innings.

Do you really want the possibility of going to your long relief guys? If you had confidence in them in the first place, would Pedro even be pitching on Saturday? Or, would you have been able to save Blanton or Happ for that game?

Uncle Charlie really is banking his reputation on Pedro right now. If this doesn’t turn out well, his yearlong love affair with Philadelphia could be over by early Monday morning.