"Pedro Martinez has pitched in the grandest of stages.

He has pitched seven shutout innings in the 2004 World Series, in critical games of the ALCS, and perhaps most incredibly, six no-hit innings in relief in the deciding Game 5 of the ALDS in 1999 with a sore shoulder that Martinez said left him "almost in tears."

In other words, Martinez has been there, done that, when it comes to pitching in the postseason.

Yet it wasn't hard to detect the glee that Martinez felt Friday when Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee told him that he would start tonight in Game 3 in the NLDS against the Rockies.

The game is critical for the Phillies. The winner will take a 2-1 lead, putting the other team near elimination.

"It's kind of a reward for all the work and all the things that I have been through over the last three years," Martinez said. "It's having the opportunity to be here, to pitch again, to actually make a comeback -- probably the biggest comeback in the history of a shoulder like mine and the type of surgery I had."

By now, the litany of setbacks is well known. Martinez had rotator cuff surgery in 2007 and missed just about the entire season. The 2008 season was a disaster on the field and off as Martinez struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness, as well as the death of his father from cancer."