Pedroia never a forgotten man

It wouldn't be a stretch to say Dustin Pedroia sparked the offense last night. Pedroia collected four hits and scored three runs, including one in the sixth with David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis. (Photos/Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

Jason Varitek ran down the list of the biggest hits of the night, and he plum forgot about the four Dustin Pedroia chipped in.

He mentioned David Ortiz's RBI double in the fifth. He gave a nod to new guy Mark Kotsay, who followed with an RBI double three batters later. He shouted out Jason Bay, who banged a three-run double off the Monster in the sixth.

It wasn't a slight - Pedroia just had too many hits to mention.

He went to the plate five times and reached base every one. He had Carlos Quentin doing shuttle runs chasing down ropes from the grass to the wall. And Javier Vazquez couldn't stop looking over his shoulder, checking for Pedroia, who swiped two bases while the pitcher wasn't looking.

By the end of the Red Sox' 8-0 win over the AL Central-leading White Sox last night, Pedroia had stuffed the box score with a 4-for-4 effort, three runs (which gave him 104 for the year, breaking Bobby Doerr's team record for a second baseman), two steals, and a diving stab that would be a Web Gem if Pedroia hadn't made it seem routine.

But the truth is, people expect nights like that from a player who turned 25 12 days ago.

"I worry more about Pedroia than I do about Big Papi right now," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Right now you have to. He's swinging the bat good. He's a hell of a ballplayer. He shows up to beat you. It's amazing how this kid shows up to the ballpark every day and plays the way he plays. He brings a lot of energy to the field. He brings a lot of good things to them. I think right now that kid is the key to the ball club."

Even Bay said Pedroia's good nights are becoming redundant.

"And I've only been here for a month," he said.

Bay has started calling Pedroia "The Energizer Bunny," because he never stops moving. That was evident when Bay came up in the sixth inning and clubbed a D.J. Carrasco fastball to left-center. Pedroia was the first of three runners to touch the plate, after walking and stealing second.

"It's almost become expected," Bay said. "What did he have, four hits tonight? It's just another day for Dustin Pedroia. I don't think it impresses anybody anymore."

Almost lost in it all was the fact that Pedroia wrote his name in the club history books, passing Doerr, a man he had a chance to meet when the Red Sox rolled the old-timers out in classic cars last year at Fenway. Pedroia said they talked and Doerr said he liked the way the kid played, but back then, he probably didn't think Pedroia would be erasing his name from the record books.

"He didn't seem like the kind of guy that would be mad about it," Pedroia said.

Right now, to Pedroia, the numbers don't matter.

"I don't really care," he said. "The only thing I care about is us winning games. I'll go 0 for 4 and have us win any day of the week."

But odds are, even if someone does collar him, he'll be making plays somewhere, which is what manager Terry Francona likes about his game the most.

"We love the way he plays," Francona said. "He just does it all the time. He's a great hitter, but when he doesn't hit, he does all those other things every night. He plays the game until it's over like it's his last game."

Those are the things Pedroia said the Red Sox need to do until the end of the season.

"We've got good players around here," he said. "Yeah, we've got to do the little things to win. But we've got guys to do the little things."

If those sound like the words of a captain, they could be. He already has the incumbent's endorsement.

Varitek has run out of compliments for Pedroia, mustering only, "He's just a good baseball player. He's just a very good baseball player and a good teammate."

But he paid Pedroia the biggest compliment by saying that when he is gone, Pedroia has all the makings of the next captain.

"He has the makeup and the ability," Varitek said. "It's the way he conducts his business."

It's his .322 average, too.

"Now if he hit .220, it might not go as well," Varitek said. "But he'd still conduct his business the same way, and that's a compliment to him."