Mets ace Martinez will miss postseason with injury

~ New York's playoff hopes took a hit with the loss of the three-time Cy Young Award winner.

ATLANTA -- Pedro Martinez is out for the postseason after an exam Thursday showed the New York Mets ace has a torn tendon in his left calf muscle.

The Mets, who won their first NL East title since 1988 with Martinez battling injuries most of the season, won't have the three-time Cy Young Award winner at all in the playoffs.

Martinez returned to New York after getting knocked around badly in his final start of the regular season Wednesday night, a 13-1 loss to Atlanta. An MRI showed a tear in the left calf -- different from the right calf injury that recently put him on the disabled list for a month and was thought to be his major concern.

"He did mention (Wednesday) that he felt some pain in the other leg," general manager Omar Minaya said Thursday night during the finale of a three-game series in Atlanta. "The bottom line is he's not going to be available."

Martinez will need four to six weeks to recover from the final setback of an injury-plagued season. Surgery will not be required.

Orlando Hernandez will start Game 1 next week in the best-of-five division series, the slot that was supposed to go to Martinez. Tom Glavine will go in Game 2.

Martinez (9-8) lost his last four starts -- the first when his right calf began hurting, the last three after coming off the DL. He looked downright awful against the Braves on Wednesday night, giving up eight hits, seven runs and two homers in 2 2/3 innings.

"It's taken a lot away from me: my confidence and the location of my pitches," Martinez said before leaving Atlanta. "When you don't have the legs to push off and create velocity and locate your pitches, you're in trouble. And I can't locate right now."

The Mets wrapped up the NL East title with nearly two weeks left in the regular season and looked to be a strong favorite to reach the World Series from a league that will have no other playoff team with 90 wins.

But, with Martinez out, New York would appear to have one glaring weakness: starting pitching. Beyond Hernandez (10-11 going into a start Thursday night) and Glavine (14-7), the other potential playoff starters are Steve Trachsel, whose 15 wins are mitigated by an ERA of nearly 5.00, and six-game winner John Maine, a rookie.

Even before getting the news that Martinez was out, his teammates were preparing to be without him in the playoffs.

"I don't think not having Pedro means we can't win," Glavine said. "But there's no question your biggest concern -- ever -- going into a postseason is if you have all your guys healthy. And that's not going to be the case for us. We have to deal with it."

Martinez posted a 16.97 ERA over his last four starts, giving up 22 hits and 20 earned runs in 11 2-3 innings.

"Obviously, the other guys are in better shape than I am right now," he said. "Everybody can see that. I think it would be a bad decision for Willie to put me out there the way I look now."

When Martinez first strained his calf muscle, he didn't think it was that big a deal. Now he knows better.

"It affects my shoulder, it affects my legs, it affects my back. It affects everything, really," he said. "Those legs are everything. Without them, it's impossible to get the result you want."