Cincinnati Reds Veteran Deserves Major Praise After Stellar Week

Reds veteran pitcher Nick Martinez put on a show on Friday night at Great American Ballpark, taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning in Cincinnati's 8-1 win over San Diego.

Martinez was dominant on Friday, but his performance caps off an outstanding week.

He appeared in four games in eight days for the Reds, including Friday's start.

The trek began with 2 2/3 innings on June 19. He followed that up by tossing two scoreless innings on June 21 and one scoreless frame on June 23.

Then, three days later, he pitched the best game of his career and helped guide the Reds to an easy win in front of the hometown crowd.

When the Reds kept Martinez this season, some wondered if it was a mistake. Giving $21 million to a 34-year-old pitcher that can start, but may be best as a reliever seemed questionable at the time.

The past eight days are why it was the right decision. It's hard to get it right in free agency. It's even harder to find reliability and versatility.

Martinez checks those boxes and delivered in a big way over the past week. Check out his postgame reaction below: