BOSTON — When the phone rang in the Red Sox bullpen yesterday, summoning the rookie right-hander in the second inning, Chris Smith could hardly believe his good luck.

Perhaps he was too excited to notice that, at the time, the bases were full of St. Louis Cardinals and there were, as yet, no outs.

Inheriting a mess from starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, Smith arrived at the mound and found catcher Jason Varitek waiting.

“You ready?” asked Varitek. “Here we go.”

Ready? Smith, 27, had been waiting for this moment for years. He had endured a broken arm in 2003 and later had two seasons shortened with shoulder problems.

A former third-round pick, he had suffered the ignominy of being removed from the team’s 40-man roster. Earlier this season, he had been warming up in the ninth inning of Jon Lester’s no-hitter. Lester finished the no-hitter successfully, and the next day, caught in a roster crunch, the Sox sent Smith back to Pawtucket.

Seven years of pro ball, nearly every minute spent dreaming of this moment? Yes, of course Chris Smith was ready.

But first, he needed to remind himself of a few basics.

“You tell yourself to breathe,” said Smith with a chuckle, “because you’ve been doing it for 27 years.”

That accomplished, he struck out Rick Ankiel for the first out, but then made the mistake of leaving a “slurve” over the middle of the plate for powerful Troy Glaus. Glaus hammered it into the Monster Seats for a grand slam.

Smith had told himself not to let the powerful Glaus extend his arms, but then threw a pitch that enabled Glaus to do exactly that. A 4-0 deficit had mushroomed into an 8-0 hole.

Welcome to the big leagues.

But things quickly got better after that. Smith retired the next nine hitters he faced. When the Cardinals collected two singles in the fifth inning, Smith erased them with an inning-ending double play.

His pitching line — four innings, three strikeouts, one run on three hits — looked better than it should have since Matsuzaka absorbed statistical responsibility for the three inherited runners that came around on Glaus’ slam.

Still, it was a day Smith won’t forget.

“Four innings — that’s a pretty long (outing) — but it went so fast,” said Smith after the Sox’ 9-3 loss to St. Louis. “To me, it was one of the great experiences of my life. Words don’t explain what you’re feeling when you come through those (bullpen) doors and run onto the field.”

“He came in in a difficult situation,” said manager Terry Francona. “Beside the breaking ball to Glaus, what he really did was give us a chance to win a game tomorrow. We didn’t overuse anybody and he pitched a lot. He did a really good job.”

Smith’s family, back in California, tipped to the fact that he was making his major-league debut, went searching for the nationally televised game on Fox. Instead, they found the Dodgers-Indians game, tailored for the southern California market.

Smith grew up worshipping the Dodgers, but yesterday, he could only curse them.

“(Forget) the Dodgers!” said Smith later.

Other family members in Arizona watched the Sox telecast, as did his sister, living in Utah. Meanwhile, his parents called bars in the area, hoping to find somewhere where they could watch their son make his major-league debut.

They settled for the radio, which, Smith later joked, “was more suspenseful. They were happy anyway. And I’m sure they’ll see the grand slam all over ESPN tonight.”

Smith was asked whether he could consider his debut a success, or whether the final score and grand slam negated all the good.

“I finally got to pitch in the big leagues,” he said, answering the question in his own way. “You can’t go back and change things. It’s like a test — you can study and prepare, but if you make a mistake you can’t change it.”

As for yesterday’s test? “I’d give myself, overall, a decent grade,” he said.

Which is as it should be. Glaus had 286 homers before Smith helped him add to the total, and there will be other homers off other pitchers — veterans and rookies alike.

Meanwhile, there were other positives. His changeup, probably his best pitch, was strikingly effective, and he commanded well, throwing 30 of his 45 pitches for strikes without walking a single batter.

The four innings were the longest outing for a Red Sox reliever making his major-league debut since Dana Kiecker in 1990.

In the weeks and years to come, Smith will remember them all.

smcadam@projo.com