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THE RAYS and A ONE WAY September 1, 2008 ... It clearly doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether Dustin Pedroia hits second or fourth or first. Wherever he stands in the batting order, he seems to produce results. It might be hits or runs or runs batted in. He is always in the middle of the fray these days. That was where he was tonight, No. 2 in the order, and ready to again be the hero for the Red Sox (or at least extend their lead to three runs), as Paul Byrd needed just a bit of help to carry him to the win. Despite giving up three home runs, Byrd left the Sox in position to beat Baltimore at Fenway Park, behind solo homers of their own from Jason Varitek and Jeff Bailey, behind contributions from Jason Bay and Jed Lowrie and Coco Crisp. And, of course, behind that dagger from Pedroia. There's no escaping those "MVP" chants now. Who else can bring a crowd of 37,565 to its feet with a stolen base with the Sox up two in the eighth inning? The 7-4 win over the lagging Orioles, most recently seen being swept at the hands of the Rays over the weekend, left the Red Sox five games back of Tampa Bay in the American League East and three ahead of the Twins in the wild-card race. It wasn't really very fair. Coming in from the Baltimore bullpen in the sixth inning, Dennis Sarfate faced the bases loaded and the American League's top batter at the plate. And, surprising no one in the crowd and certainly not himself, Pedroia lined a single over the infield and into right field. It scored two runs and placed Pedroia's name in the record books. The single was the 184th hit for Pedroia this season, a Red Sox record for a second baseman. But, as Pedroia never fails to mention, the important part was extending the team's lead to three runs. Pedroia might have been out of the cleanup spot for the first time since Friday night, but the No. 2 slot worked pretty well for him, too. Both Bailey (walk) and Crisp (RBI single) came around to score on Pedroia's single, marking the third and fourth runs of the inning for the Sox, and the fifth and sixth of the game. That took them from down one run at the start of the sixth to up by three. Earlier in the inning, Lowrie continued to show a knack for driving in runs, though it might not have been on the best fielding play of Jay Payton's career. With Bay on with a ground-rule double, Lowrie sent him home on a double off the Wall, tying the score at 3-3. Byrd, who allowed a solo home run on his first pitch of the game to Adam Jones, gave up another on the second pitch seen by Juan Castro in the third inning. That left the score tied, after the Sox had taken the lead on back-to-back home runs by Varitek and Bailey in the second. Varitek's hit just over the wall in left field, by the foul pole, while Bailey's took flight, heading over the Green Monster. But Castro's homer took that lead away, though Byrd settled down after that and retired eight straight Orioles. Until the sixth. After scoring one run, on a Castro single and a Nick Markakis single, the Orioles loaded the bases with two outs for Luke Scott. But Scott lofted a ball to Jacoby Ellsbury in right field to keep Byrd out of major trouble, and to keep the Baltimore's total to just three runs. The Sox added another run in the eighth inning, when Pedroia singled to left-center field, stole second base, then came home on Lowrie's bases-loaded walk. It was Pedroia's fifth stolen base in his last four games, and his 17th of the season. He has been caught just one time this year, for a success rate of 94.4 percent. That's the best mark in the American League for a player with at least 15 attempts, and it would be the best for a Red Sox player with at least 10 tries since 1956. Jonathan Papelbon struggled slightly in the ninth in recording his 35th save. He allowed two-out singles to Kevin Millar and Jay Payton before getting pinch hitter Oscar Salazar to ground to Pedroia for the final out after an eight-pitch at bat. |
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