Even in fourth spot, Pedroia measures up

When Dustin Pedroia, who jokingly proclaimed himself to manager Terry Francona as "the strongest 160-pound player in baseball," arrived at Fenway Park yesterday, he discovered he had the opportunity to prove his might was right. The Red Sox second baseman found himself penciled in as the cleanup hitter in the lineup, behind No. 3 hitter David Ortiz.

"I'll never hear the end of this from Pedroia or Ortiz," Francona cracked before last night's 8-2 triumph over the White Sox. "Pedroia says it's long overdue and Ortiz says he's retiring."

Pedroia found himself in that exalted spot in the batting order after Kevin Youkilis, as well as Josh Beckett and Coco Crisp, pulled up sick.

"Just trying to put a lineup together where, obviously, there's not a lot of room to pinch run or pinch hit, if they want to bring in [lefthanders Matt] Thornton or [Horacio] Ramirez, we at least have some balance. Pedroia's hot.

"[Mark ] Kotsay's swung the bat very well off [White Sox starter Mark Buehrle]. We're a little bit sick and banged up, so this looked like a pretty good lineup."

It certainly did. The Sox pounded out 15 hits, including a solo homer by Jeff Bailey, a triple by Jacoby Ellsbury, and doubles by five players: Ellsbury, Kotsay, Jason Bay, Pedroia, and Jed Lowrie.

Pedroia, who reached base five times in Friday night's 8-0 shutout by going 4 for 4 with a walk, duplicated his effort last night, again lacing four hits while earning an intentional walk. It marked the first time a Red Sox player had four hits in back-to-back games since Wade Boggs did so in 1989.

Asked afterward if he had created a monster by batting Pedroia cleanup, Francona replied with wry smile, "He already is a monster."

So did he make a case to continue hitting cleanup?

"I don't think so," said Pedroia, who has 182 hits, one shy of the team's single-season record for a second baseman set by Del Pratt in 1922.

"I don't think so. I hope Youk is feeling better. I don't like hitting fourth."

Righthander David Pauley had been scheduled to start last night's game against the White Sox. That was, of course, before the Sox called up 21-year-old Michael Bowden Friday night to hand him his first major league assignment.

But there were no hard feelings.

When Bowden reported to the Sox clubhouse yesterday afternoon some 3 1/2 hours before the first pitch, Pauley, who is now part of the bullpen corps, was the first player to greet the new kid, giving him a pat on the rear and a few words of encouragement.

"I just tried to give him a couple of words of comfort and whatnot," said Pauley, who was called up last Sunday from Pawtucket, where he was 14-4 with a 3.55 ERA in 25 starts.

"I just told him to go out and have fun and do what he had been doing in Triple A to get him here," he said.

To make room for Bowden on the 40-man roster, the Sox yesterday designated Pawtucket righthander Eric Hull for assignment.

Francona said the club's decision to put Sean Casey (strained neck) on the 15-day DL would go a long way to helping him work out his injury. "I think we were all hoping that once he was put on the DL, he'll take a deep breath and, you know how that goes, you're trying to relax a spasm in the neck or back and you're trying so hard you can't. Maybe he'll take a deep breath and relax it a little bit."

Francona said he's been pleased with the defense of Ellsbury, who of late has been a jack of all trades in the outfield. "It's better, and it's better because he's probably more comfortable. We're probably nitpicking here a bit, but the strength of hitters is different here [in the majors]. We've noticed a few times, when the ball was hit, I think it's surprised him. But he's been pretty good in center field, being aggressive and taking charge. He's laid out a few times." . . . Ellsbury recorded multiple extra-base hits for the third time this season and the fourth time in his career, snapping a seven-game skein without an extra-base hit . . . Kotsay's two doubles give him 300 for his career . . . Righthander Clay Buchholz dominated in his second start since his demotion to Double A, allowing two hits in eight innings, walking one, and striking out 10 in the Sea Dogs' 7-0 victory over New Hampshire last night in Portland.

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.