Pedro Martinez will get the ball in The Bronx, again. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel announced today on WPHT-AM in Philadelphia that Martinez will start Game 2 of the World Series against the Yankees. The 38-year-old former Dodgers, Red Sox and Mets pitcher was chosen over Cole Hamels, who will start Game 3 when the series heads south on I-95 on Saturday night.

Martinez’s experience against the Yankees and dealing with the old Yankee Stadium crowd likely factored in Manuel’s decision.

Martinez downplayed the importance of his Thursday night start.

“I don’t get very hyped up about anything more,” Martinez said. “I save energy for when I need it. I am like an old veteran coming from war with a bullet going past my head … so I am immune to it. Good teams competing and nothing else. I try to keep focus on what I have to do.”

Martinez went 5-1 with a 3.63 since joining the Phillies on Aug. 12 and threw seven shutout innings against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLCS in his only postseason appearance this year.

But if Hamels was pitching the way he was last October there is little doubt that Manuel would have gone with the young lefty, who was the World Series MVP last year. But Hamels, 25, is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in three postseason starts against the Rockies and Dodgers.

Martinez likely will be opposed by A.J. Burnett, who has started Game 2 of the ALDS and ALCS for the Yankees.