LOS ANGELES — Grady Little infamously stuck with Pedro Martinez a bit too long.

Six years later, did Charlie Manuel yank Martinez a bit too soon in a crucial playoff moment?

Another manager's late-inning postseason decision on Martinez is sure to be a hot topic of discussion after the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2-1 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series yesterday.

"I didn't ask for anything like (staying in)," Martinez said. "If they asked me to go back, yes, I would have, but they didn't, and that's it."

In his first postseason start since 2004, Martinez stifled the Dodgers for seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and overwhelming Los Angeles' lineup with control and guile.

Martinez threw just 87 pitches in those seven innings and didn't walk a batter, but Manuel had seen enough, worrying about Pedro's pitch count and the stifling heat at Dodger Stadium. Manuel elected to pinch hit for him with Carlos Ruiz on first base and one out in a 1-0 game.

"He was gone," Manuel said of Martinez. "I mean, I think he was spent. We got seven innings out of him. When the game started, I was looking anywhere from 70 to 85 pitches, maybe 90 at the most. ... He did a tremendous job, and he took it actually farther than I anticipated when the game started. To me, Pedro was done."

Pedro looked like the Martinez of 2003, who ran out of gas before he could pitch the Boston Red Sox into the World Series in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series.

In a move that broke Red Sox fans' hearts and contributed to Little's firing soon after, the manager kept a tiring Martinez on the mound with Boston holding a two-run lead and sitting just five outs away from the World Series. The Yankees rallied to tie it against Martinez, and Aaron Boone's 11th-inning homer off Tim Wakefield sent them into the Series instead.

ASTROS

Bob Melvin met with the Houston Astros about their managerial job yesterday, the fifth of 10 candidates that the team is scheduled to interview. Former Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta met with the Astros in the afternoon. Phil Garner, who was fired by the Astros two years ago, will interview today.