David Ortiz heads for third on Dusty Brown’s single in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

PAWTUCKET — David Ortiz looked like a pretty ordinary hitter in batting practice yesterday afternoon at McCoy Stadium.

Over his first four rounds, everything the left-handed slugger hit was to the opposite field as Ortiz, on Boston’s disabled list because of a partially torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, prepared for his second rehabilitation-assignment game for the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Not many of the balls were driven, either.

There was a method to his madness, of course.

“My game plan is to hit the ball to all fields,” Ortiz said after his time in the cage. “You have to work on that in BP, obviously, so you can do it in a game.

Practice made perfect for Ortiz last night.

In his third at-bat, Ortiz lashed an outside fastball on the line over the low fence in left field and into the berm , for a three-run blast that provided Pawtucket with a 6-1 lead en route to a 6-1 victory over the Toledo Mud Hens.

“The most important thing is my hand, is feeling good,” he said after the game was called in the bottom of the seventh inning because of rain. “That’s what I’m working on. I try to hit with power to left field.”

Ortiz, whose first two at-bats had been ho-hum appearances (popup to third, walk), electrified the crowd of 11,140 with his homer on a 1-and-1 pitch from right-hander Anastacio Martinez, who earned a World Series ring for his 13 games with the Red Sox in 2004.

An assist had to go to Toledo manager Larry Parrish.

When Ortiz stepped into the batter’s box in the fifth, the PawSox had runners at second and third with none out. Pawtucket already was ahead, 3-1.

In most such circumstances, especially with a major-league slugger batting with a base open in a Triple-A game, the inclination would be for the manager to have his pitcher issue an intentional walk, creating a double-play possibility while also taking the bat out of the hands of a dangerous hitter.

Parrish, though, had Martinez go after Ortiz. The challenge was won by Ortiz, offering further proof that he will be ready to return to his customary No. 3 spot in Boston’s batting order when the Red Sox return to Fenway Park for a July 25 date against the New York Yankees.

“I’m going to take my tim,” said Ortiz. “It’s only been a few days. I haven’t played in the last six weeks. I’m going to make sure. My progress has been good, I’m happy with what’s happening, I hope everything stays that way.”

Ortiz batted once more, this time as lightning crackled, thunder boomed and the wind picked up in intensity, swirling hot-dog wrappers and the like around the field.

Ortiz, this time facing right-hander Zach Miner, walked, but by the time he got to first base, and with Sandy Madera running onto the field to replace him as a pinch runner, the umpires pulled the players off the field a split-second before a heavy band of rain washed over McCoy, bringing on the grounds crew a bit belatedly for their difficult task of spreading the tarpaulin over the field.

The final at-bat for Ortiz was as unexciting as his first two.

In the first inning, he stepped into the batter’s box with two out and none on against Martinez.

Ortiz looked at a fastball down and away for ball one and then took a fastball over the outside corner for a strike. Martinez took a little off the 1-and-1 pitch, and had Ortiz out in front. Ortiz lofted an end-of-the-bat pop-up to third, which was hauled in after a long run by third baseman Kody Kirkland, who had been shifted to shortstop in the Mud Hens’ shift on the PawSox DH.

His second at-bat was even a bit quieter. Ortiz drew a walk.

But results in terms of base hits isn’t the main objective for Ortiz in his rehab assignment. One important element is for him to see pitches, get used to tracking them to home plate both for strike-zone and pitch-selection purposes.

So in that context, his second at-bat wasn’t a total waste. Ortiz saw six pitches in that plate appearance. He swung and missed two pitches that had downward movement out of the strike zone, either splitters or sliders.

When the count ran full at 3-and-2, Ortiz was able to lay off a breaking ball in the dirt.

The walk gave Ortiz to dust the cobwebs off his baserunning instincts. He ambled to second on Chris Carter’s ground-ball single up the middle and then Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson, coaching third base, came to his rescue, emphatically holding him up at third base on Dusty Brown’s single through the right side.

Johnson didn’t want Ortiz anywhere near a possible collision at the plate, figuring a bases-loaded, none-out threat was good enough. And that decision panned out, with Ortiz able to walk home on Jeff Corsaletti’s two-run double to center that gave Pawtucket a 2-0 lead.

Ortiz did a little more trotting before the game was over, on his home run.

skrasner@projo.com