Pedroia has a case of scuffles

TORONTO -- This is hardly the way for Dustin Pedroia, batting .167, to quiet the skeptics who watched him struggle during his September call-up last season (.191 in 31 games) and decided the rookie second baseman is overmatched at this level. Never mind that September call-ups are often the worst barometer of a player's ability (Manny Ramírez hit .170 in his September call-up in 1993).

Pedroia comes into this weekend's series against the Yankees hitless in his last 11 at-bats spanning five games, and with just one hit in 26 at-bats in his last nine games after going 5 for 10 in the first three games. Yesterday, Pedroia, batting eighth for the first time this season after anchoring the No. 9 hole in his previous 11 starts, fouled out to short, tapped out to third, lined out to third, then failed to sacrifice in the eighth, when he pushed his bunt too hard on the turf and hit into a force play.

"I hope something goes right for me," Pedroia said, looking to the weekend. "No luck, man. It's coming, though. I've got to stay positive. Otherwise, it'll kill me."

This will not be Pedroia's first exposure to Yankees-Red Sox. He had three hits in eight at-bats in Yankee Stadium in September.

"I told him, 'You've just got to believe in the process,' but it gets frustrating," third baseman Mike Lowell said. "He hit the ball hard and lines out to third. That's so much more of a mental challenge. It's a challenge not to try to do something different. I told him, 'Keep grinding it out, give things a chance. You get in trouble when you try to do too much.'

"He's hard on himself. He wants to do well. He's not lacking desire. I think he's going to be OK. It's not like he's lost up there. It's not like he's swinging and missing. It's just a matter of getting consistent contact.

"He wants to win. He wants to play hard. Even when he's not hitting, he's cheering guys."

Pedroia is not the only Sox player slumping entering the series. The team batting average of .249 is the lowest after 14 games since the 1996 club batted .226.

Jason Varitek, 0 for 4 yesterday, has just two hits in his last 17 at-bats and is down to .189. J.D. Drew had a single and two walks yesterday (one intentional), but has just two hits in 13 at-bats in his last four games after hitting .419 in the first nine. Julio Lugo went hitless in eight at-bats in Toronto. Ramírez, with a home run in three at-bats yesterday, is 5 for his last 31 (.161). Kevin Youkilis singled in his first at-bat yesterday to break an 0-for-10 skid, but has just one hit in his last 14 at-bats.

"This team will come out of it," Varitek said. "Just a matter of time."

Alex Rodriguez has hit safely in his last eight games at Fenway Park, batting .344 (11 for 32). The only game at Fenway last season in which he did not get a hit was May 1, when he went 0 for 2 with two walks.

A-Rod had two home runs and three doubles against the Sox in Fenway last season, while driving in 10 runs. In 29 games at Fenway since he became a Yankee, Rodriguez is batting a modest .257 with six home runs and 19 RBIs; in 41 games with the Mariners and Rangers, A-Rod has hit .294 at Fenway, with 10 home runs and 26 RBIs.

Against tonight's starter, Curt Schilling, A-Rod is batting .194 (6 for 31) with two home runs, a walk, and nine strikeouts. He has fared even worse against tomorrow's starter, Josh Beckett: 1 for 9, three walks, two whiffs.

Julian Tavarez, pitching for the first time in almost a fortnight (April 7), did his part in extending the Sox' streak to nine games in which they have allowed three or fewer runs. Tavarez yielded just one run through five innings, a home run by Frank Thomas to start the second, then weakened in the sixth, giving up a home run to Alex Rios, a single to Adam Lind, and an RBI double to Vernon Wells before being lifted with one out . . . Joel Pineiro, J.C. Romero, and Mike Timlin combined for 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief before Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth and recorded his fourth save. Papelbon had to work for it, issuing a full-count leadoff walk to Gregg Zaun, striking out Jason Smith and pinch hitter Matt Stairs, then retiring Rios on a fly to right after a 10-pitch at-bat in which Rios fouled off five two-strike pitches. "[Pitching coach] John [Farrell] and I are still talking about how to get him out," manager Terry Francona said. "If he had been ahead in the count, we might have walked him [Zaun had moved to second on defensive indifference]. He's going to be a superstar." . . . Papelbon threw 26 pitches, which calls into question his availability against the Yankees tonight . . . Coco Crisp became the first Sox player since Darren Lewis on July 16, 1998, to record two bunt singles in a game. Francona said he nearly called for Crisp to squeeze in the ninth -- "the closest I've come to calling a squeeze except in spring training" -- but elected to let him swing away, Crisp scoring Alex Cora with a sacrifice fly. Crisp raised his average to .167, but had little interest in talking about it. "I'm not going there," he said . . . Jason Place, the South Carolina high school outfielder taken by the Sox with their second pick of the first round last season, hit two tape-measure home runs Wednesday in Savannah, Ga., while playing for the Single A Greenville Drive. The first cleared the bleachers and the back fence and left the stadium. "Not Wily Mo [Peña] size, but a pretty large animal for the Sally League," Greenville manager Gabe Kapler wrote in an e-mail. "They would have easily cleared the Monster seats in left-center field." . . . And in case you were wondering, Dominican-born but Brooklyn-raised Lugo grew up a Mets fan . . . Tonight will be the first time Schilling has faced Andy Pettitte . . . Since the start of the 2003 season, Tim Wakefield is 12-1 with five no-decisions in the 18 games in which batterymate Doug Mirabelli has homered, according to crack publicist John Blake . . . The Sox acquired lefthanded pitcher Daniel Haigwood from the Rangers for Double A Portland righthander Scott Shoemaker and cash considerations. Haigwood has been assigned to the Sea Dogs; the Sox' big league roster is now filled at 40. Haigwood has gone 35-18 with a 3.43 ERA in 88 minor league starts. The 23-year-old split the 2006 season between Double A Reading of the Phillies' organization and Double A Frisco of the Rangers' system, going a combined 3-7 with a 3.58 ERA in 27 starts. The 6-foot-2-inch, 200-pounder has yet to pitch this season, and had been designated for assignment. He was originally selected by the White Sox in the 16th round of the 2002 draft.