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DUSTIN PEDROIA |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
Dustin Pedroia leads the Sox
in a late inning come back win
May 25, 2013 ...
After Jon Lester battled back from a rough third inning, setting a season-high with 124 pitches through seven innings, Dustin Pedroia stepped into the batter's box with two outs and the game tied in the eighth. After falling behind 0-2 to Indians setup man Vinnie Pestano, who entered
with a 2.45 ERA, Pedroia squared up a hanging slider and drove the ball high off the Green Monster for the go-ahead RBI double. Mike Carp, who had just smacked a pinch-hit RBI double, scored the eventual game-winner from second as the Red Sox finished a wild 7-4 win over the Indians on a wet
Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park.
With two doubles on Saturday, Pedroia has 14 on the year while hitting .337. He's only hit a couple of homers, but his .422 on-base percentage ranks in the top three in the AL. Regardless of Pedroia's power numbers, Lester believes opposing pitchers fear him
as much as they fear any other hitter in the game.
A game that finished on a happy note for the Red Sox once appeared to be destined for disappointment. Following a frustrating two-run third inning, Lester walked off the mound shaking his head, screaming and smacking his glove. This has certainly been
seen before. But what came next was a testament to Lester's progression: He settled in, retired 10 of the next 12, including four via strikeout, and was a pitch away from escaping the seventh inning in a tie game. That one pitch escaped Lester on Saturday,
bouncing in the grass several feet before home plate while allowing Mike Aviles to score the go-ahead run that put the Indians ahead, 4-3.
The bottom of the Red Sox lineup, led by Jose Iglesias and Pedro Ciriaco, finished a strong day at the plate by igniting the comeback in the eighth inning. Ciriaco hit a one-out double off the left-field wall and Carp, pinch-hitting for Jonny Gomes, followed
with his own double off the Monster to tie the game. Iglesias and Ciriaco each finished 3-for-4, combining for six of the team's 11 hits.
While he hit just .202 (24-for-119) at Triple-A Pawtucket, Iglesias is hitting .481 (13-for-27) with the Red Sox this season. He's 4-for-7 since being recalled Friday to take the place of third baseman Will Middlebrooks, who is on the 15-day disabled list with a
lower back strain.
The Red Sox players, and a few of the Indians, spent time after the game with families from Newtown, Conn., who attended the game on Connecticut Day at Fenway. The Sox reached out to the town after the mass murder of schoolchildren and teachers there in December |
