Martinez Gets It Together : Baseball: He reaches ninth inning after slow start, and Dodger bats stay warm, 6-3.

Ramon Martinez was not a pretty pitcher at first.

The Pittsburgh Pirates scorched him for two runs on three hits in the first inning. There were bets whether he would last through the second inning.

Martinez, though, was Cy Young compared to Pirate starter Dave Otto, who gave up five runs in the first and was relieved before recording an out.

Given new life and a three-run lead, Martinez pulled himself together and finished strongly in the Dodgers’ 6-3 victory over the Pirates before a crowd of 46,034 at Dodger Stadium.

In improving his record to 2-1, Martinez gave up only one hit after the first inning and retired 17 consecutive batters before walking Andy Van Slyke to lead off the ninth.

Jim Gott relieved Martinez at that point and made things interesting.

After recording two quick outs, he hit Kevin Young on an 0-and-2 pitch and walked Don Slaught on a 3-and-2, loading the bases.

Carlos Garcia grounded an infield single to short, Van Slyke scoring.

But Gott struck out Dave Clark on three pitches to record his third save.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda was impressed with Martinez’s performance.

“He really struggled in the early innings,” he said. “But he finally got his composure and started throwing with command and it carried him into the ninth inning.”

The Dodgers, who had seven runs and 15 hits in a 7-4 victory Friday, touched Pirate pitchers for 11 hits Saturday.

The Dodgers scored six runs in the first two innings and made them stand up.

Lasorda, who shuffled his lineup all week looking for the right combination, might have found it.

In the two games that Eric Davis has batted second, the Dodgers have 13 runs and 26 hits.

“You try everything,” Lasorda said. “It’s like a snowball going down hill. You’ve got to stop it somewhere down the line. One day you sit them down. The next day you play them. Eric feels comfortable there. But who would think of seeing Eric hitting in the second spot?”

The hit parade:

--Mike Piazza, hitting third again, highlighted the five-run first with a three-run home run to right, his second of the season.

“It helps having Davis in front of you and Darryl (Strawberry) behind you,” Piazza said of his place in the order.

--Strawberry, who has apparently awakened from his spring slumber, hit his second home run in as many nights. Saturday’s was a towering shot that landed about halfway up the right-field pavilion.

“I’m starting to see the ball good,” he said. “Once I start hitting the long ball, I know I’m on the right track.”

--Davis. He had two more hits to go with his four on Friday.

--Brett Butler. He continues to amaze. He had three more hits, two on drag bunts, and a walk.

The Dodgers thoroughly drummed the league’s only palindrome, Otto, who was unable to record an out in the first and was lifted after throwing 18 pitches.

It worked out to a Dodger hit every 3.6 pitches, not quite the ratio Pirate Manager Jim Leyland was looking for from his starter.

The Pirates staked Otto to a 2-0 lead, scoring two runs off Martinez in the top of the first on a run-scoring single by Van Slyke, who later scored from third on Orlando Merced’s grounder to shortstop.

Then, the Dodger onslaught, not to be confused with the Pirates’ Don Slaught.

Picking up where they left off Friday, the Dodgers greeted Otto with a succession of blasts.

Butler opened with a single to center. Davis singled to left. Piazza then stroked a 1-and-1 pitch over the right-field fence.

Strawberry followed with a single to center. Leyland came out to check Otto’s pulse.

The manager left him for one more batter, Eric Karros, who promptly singled to right, chasing Strawberry into third with a head-first slide.

End of Otto.

Blas Minor, ol’ No. 66, was hurried in from the bullpen to restore some order.

Doing what Otto could not, Minor recorded an out, getting Tim Wallach to fly to right.

That scored Strawberry from third. After Jody Reed reached on an error and Jose Offerman flied out to left, Martinez helped himself with a run-scoring single to right.

Butler, who singled to open the inning, struck out to end it.

Still, you wondered if Martinez would hold the 5-2 lead.

He opened the second inning by walking Slaught.

Soon, Ramon’s brother, Pedro, was warming up in the Dodger bullpen.

Last Sunday, Ramon and Pedro became the first brothers to pitch in the same game since the Mahlers, Rick and Mickey, appeared together for the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 25, 1979.

Not wishing to repeat the feat, Ramon escaped the inning unscathed and eventually found his rhythm.