BOSTON (AP) – Aware that he was tiring, Pedro Martinez said he told Red Sox manager Grady Little to have relievers warming up in the seventh game of the AL championship series but thought he could retire Hideki Matsui in the eighth inning.

“I said, “Get the guys ready in case I get in trouble,’ ” Martinez said Friday of his dugout conversation after the seventh.

Matsui doubled, putting runners at second and third, and Jorge Posada followed with a two-run bloop single that tied the game 5-5 and brought in reliever Mike Timlin. The New York Yankees won 6-5 on Aaron Boone’s homer in the 11th.

Little was criticized for sticking with Martinez after they talked on the mound as Matsui waited to hit. Boston did not pick up Little’s option for next season, although team officials said the decision to keep Martinez in the game was one of several factors.

For the first time on Friday, Martinez discussed at length the decision to keep him pitching. Martinez is signed through next season, with a salary of $17.5 million.

, and said during a conference call Friday that he would like to stay with the Red Sox. He said he would wait for the club to contact him about a new contract and expects “tough” negotiations.

“I haven’t set any deadlines,” Martinez said. “I’m just going to let Boston run the show here. Boston is going to dictate whether I go or I stay.”

General manager Theo Epstein, who followed Martinez on the call, said he talked with Martinez on Friday for the third or fourth time since the ALCS and that the pitcher and team officials have a good relationship.

“There’s plenty of time for things to work out,” Epstein said.

The Red Sox ran out of time in the ALCS after they blew a 5-2 lead in the eighth. Martinez had struggled in the seventh but said he didn’t think he would leave after that inning.

“I’ve done my job. I know I’ve done enough,” he said. “But, at the same time, you have to think about Grady. If he pulls me out and something goes (wrong), what’s it going to be for him?”

He said during the conference call that he hadn’t run out of energy.

But earlier Friday, in a news conference in his native Dominican Republic, Martinez said he told coaches at the end of the seventh that he was “worn out” and that Little should start warming up relief pitchers.

“I believe Grady was a great manager, someone we got along with,” Martinez said during the news conference. “But there’s nothing I can do.”

Martinez said after the game that Little wasn’t to blame. He reiterated his position in the conference call.

“It was just a decision whether I wanted to pitch to one more batter, which was Matsui, and I agreed to it. I said, “Yes, I was able to get him out.’ I was going to be able to it. It didn’t come out the way I wanted,” Martinez said. “It was up to Grady, but he doesn’t need to be blamed.”

He also said he called left fielder Manny Ramirez, who wasn’t claimed after the Red Sox put him on irrevocable waivers Oct. 29, but Ramirez didn’t call back.

The Red Sox want to unload the $101.5 million on the remaining five years of Ramirez’s contract. Martinez said that may be a sign that his own salary may go down “but it’s still pretty good money.”

He’d still like to be part of the first Red Sox team to win the World Series since 1918.

“I still feel the same passion for Boston and for the fans and New England,” Martinez said. “I have as a challenge to win with Boston.”

AP-ES-11-07-03 2044EST