Brothers in Arms

As expected, the Boston Red Sox’s playoff hopes rest on the right arm of Martinez.

Only this appendage comes with a surgical scar and is attached to a guy who is six inches taller, three years older and has a fraction of the Q-rating of the pitcher everyone thought would carry Boston in the postseason.

It will be Ramon Martinez, the shy and soft-spoken one, the one who towers over his brother, the one whose career was nearly cut short by shoulder surgery in 1998, who will try to keep the Red Sox alive when he starts Game 3 of the American League division series against the Cleveland Indians today in Fenway Park.

And it will be Pedro Martinez, the Cy Young Award winner-to-be, the one whose personality is as lively as his fastball, the ace many figured would win at least two games in this best-of-five series, playing the role of cheerleader for his big brother.

“Every game when he’s out there, it doesn’t matter if it’s a Little League game, if I see my brother competing I’m excited,” Pedro said. “I get nervous. I want him to do well so badly, it’s hard to describe.”

That Ramon, the former Dodger, and not Pedro is starting Boston’s biggest game of the season so far is about as ironic as the circumstances that enabled Ramon Martinez to make the Red Sox’s postseason roster.

After sitting out more than a year because of rotator cuff surgery in 1998, Ramon rehabilitated at four minor league levels this season before being recalled by the Red Sox and starting his first game Sept. 2.

He gave up one run and four hits to Kansas City in 4 2/3 innings that were so mundane Ramon was immediately dropped from the rotation.

Then Boston starter Pat Rapp’s wife began experiencing complications with her pregnancy. Rapp returned to his home in Lake Charles, La., in mid-September for the birth of his third son, Reid, who was 2 pounds 8 ounces and 9 1/2 weeks premature.

In Rapp’s absence, Ramon Martinez got another start and gave up three runs and three hits in 4 2/3 innings of a 12-3 victory over the Indians on Sept. 14.

He remained in the rotation, going 2-1 with a 3.05 earned-run average in four September starts, and when Manager Jimy Williams submitted his playoff roster for the division series Wednesday morning, Ramon was on it and Rapp, who went 6-7 with a 4.12 ERA in 26 starts, was not.

“It was hard to take,” said Rapp, whose son is still in the hospital but is up to 3 pounds 13 ounces and in good condition. “I guess they just had other plans.”

So did the Dodgers when it came time to either exercise Martinez’s $5.6-million option for 1999 or buy out the contract for $600,000 last winter. Martinez was the team’s ace, going 123-77 in 10 seasons, but the Dodgers, feeling he was too big a risk at that salary, let him go.

Although Pedro had some harsh words for the Dodgers this week, ripping them for trading him to Montreal and not re-signing his older brother, Ramon didn’t seem nearly as bitter about his departure.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Ramon said Friday. “They are a great organization. I had a great time when I played with them. Now I’m with the Red Sox.”

As far as quotes go, that’s about as colorful as Ramon will get. Though he has a megawatt smile and is a nice enough fellow, he reveals little of his personality to the media.

The Red Sox couldn’t care less. Let Pedro entertain the masses, they simply want Ramon to regain the form that made him one of baseball’s dominant pitchers this decade.

“He has the kind of mound presence [Bret] Saberhagen has, where he can lift a whole team,” said Boston pitching Coach Joe Kerrigan, a Montreal Expo coach from 1992 to ’96.

“I remember going to Dodger Stadium when he pitched, and you just didn’t feel good. You felt you’d be fortunate to win the game. You’d be in San Francisco the series before, looking at the pitching matchups and hoping you missed him.”

Does the Martinez of today resemble the pre-surgery Martinez?

“He doesn’t throw 94-95 mph like he used to, he’s down to 89-91 mph,” Kerrigan said. “But his command is pretty close, the movement on his fastball is the same, and his changeup is the same.

“He doesn’t throw as hard, but he understands the importance of making pitches, throwing every ball with the intention of producing an out.”

Ramon may not be the team’s ace, but Pedro Martinez believes his big brother can beat the Indians.

“He looks pretty damn good,” he said. “There’s no better time for him to step up. When I struggled in the middle of the season, Saberhagen picked me up. Now Saberhagen [who lost Game 2] and I are gone, so he’s here to pick us up.”