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It didn’t take long, either. Martinez went up there looking to hack, and hack he did. The pinch hitter blasted a pitch by Danys Baez to left-center field for a double, clearing the bases, and leading the Sox a 7-5 win at Fenway Park.

“Mikey Lowell walked on four straight pitches,’’ Martinez said. “I told myself that he’s going to try to throw a strike right here. Just look for the good pitch to hit. Don’t try to do too much. Just put a good swing on the ball. That’s what I did. When you put a good swing on the ball, anything can happen.’’

Martinez improved to 11 for 27 (.407) in his career as a pinch hitter, and 6 for 12 this season with the bases loaded with 15 RBIs.

“Pinch hitting is not for everybody,’’ Jason Bay said. “I was once told by someone who pinch hit quite a bit, just said there’s no working the count as a pinch hitter. You’ve got to be ready to hit right from the get-go. You’ve got to hit that first pitch because it might be the only one you get. For him to do that, to come in in that situation, boom, and hit a ball to the opposite field, I think just the type of hitter he is. It’s definitely not easy, I can tell you that.’’

With the Sox putting up two first-inning runs, it appeared this game might go the way of Tuesday’s, a lopsided Sox win. But the Orioles cut their deficit in half in the second.

With Paul Byrd having gone five innings and allowed two runs, the Sox went to Manny Delcarmen with a 3-2 lead in the sixth. It didn’t go well. After a Wall single and an error on Delcarmen, Cesar Izturis added a single to load the bases. That came on a bizarre play as Alex Gonzalez picked up a grounder at shortstop and went tearing after Matt Wieters advancing from second to third. Gonzalez was too late, and the bases were loaded for Brian Roberts. Delcarmen then walked Roberts to tie the game at 3-3, earning boos from the crowd of 37,712.