Sox' winning formula starts with Pedroia

Dustin Pedroia follows the flight of his run-scoring ground-rule double in the eighth. Pedroia also made several sparkling defensive plays in Boston's win. (Ted S. Warren/Associated Press)

SEATTLE - When you play the word-association game with Dustin Pedroia, the phrase "winning baseball" usually comes to the minds of those who watch him play on a daily basis.

Take the play he made in the third inning of last night's 5-3 win over the Mariners: runners at first and second, two outs, when Jose Lopez hit a ball that for all intents and purposes should have gone through into right field for a run-producing hit. Yet Pedroia, who was positioned more toward second base, got a good jump on the ball and made a diving play to the first base side to retire Lopez and keep Bartolo Colon out of peril.

That was one good thing.

The other came on offense, in the eighth inning, when the Sox broke open a 1-1 game. Pedroia got a pitch up in the strike zone and pulled it for a ground-rule double, scoring Julio Lugo. Mind you, there were two outs in a 1-1 game and Lugo had earlier failed to advance Sean Casey to second.

It was an opportunity for Seattle starter Felix Hernandez to wiggle out of the inning. Pedroia wouldn't let him escape, however, with an excellent piece of hitting that extended Boston's four-run rally.

"It was great just to put some at-bats together and give us a nice lead," said Pedroia. "Hernandez has great stuff, but I got one out over the plate and was able to take advantage of it. Any time you can get a hit like that against a guy like that is really a bonus because he's just so tough."

Pedroia believed it was only a matter of time before the Sox broke through on Hernandez. While lauding his stuff - Hernandez was throwing 96 and 97 m.p.h. late in the game - Pedroia could see the Sox were hitting some balls hard. David Ortiz had a fourth-inning homer and Jason Varitek drove Ichiro Suzuki to the wall for a sensational catch in the fifth.

So when asked if Hernandez was as good as he was when he one-hit the Sox last April, Pedroia said, "No, we hit some balls hard tonight. In that game, we didn't hit anything."

Pedroia gave credit to infield coach Luis Alicea for the positioning of the infielders, which he feels has gone a long way in helping Sox pitchers. Pedroia also made a nice play to end the game on Lopez's grounder.

With the win, the Sox ended a seven-game losing streak on the road. The four-run eighth could be an igniter, Pedroia feels.

"I think the good thing is we're hitting the ball hard," said Pedroia. "When you hit the ball hard, eventually it's going to pay off for you. I think that's what happened tonight."