BOSTON – In a bizarre twist last night, Bruce Chen, Boston’s emergency starter with Pedro Martinez out, found out he was starting when a reporter asked him about it.

“Somebody told me to check the [lineup card] and it said I’m starting,” Chen said. “When you pitch, it’s always nice to know you’re going to pitch.”

At about 3:30, manager Grady Little told the media that Chen was starting, but Chen didn’t know.

Little later insisted that Chen was just “following orders” and that until the Sox made Martinez’s condition public, Chen knew about starting but was to keep quiet.

Chen said he knew only that it was “an opportunity” to pitch, not that he was definitely starting.