Pedroia counting on wins
Dustin Pedroia knocked a milestone hit off the center-field wall last night in the Red Sox' 7-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, but he was not that impressed. He just shrugged his shoulders.
"That's definitely nice, but I don't really think about that stuff," he said.
That stuff was the 200th hit of the season for Pedroia, and the 198th and 199th, as he went 3 for 5 with two doubles in the Red Sox' 7-5 victory in the second game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park. With the sellout crowd chanting "MVP" as he stood in the batter's box, the Sox second baseman singled to left in his fifth at-bat to become the 11th player in club history to get 200 hits; Mo Vaughn was the last, with 205 in 1998.
Pedroia, 25, is the third player in Sox history to get 200 hits and 50 doubles in a season. The others were Tris Speaker in 1912 and Wade Boggs in 1989, the first old enough to be his father's father's father, the second a Hall of Famer who starred in the 1980s.
"I knew I was close because we were talking about it the other day," Pedroia said, "but I didn't know about the 50 doubles. That's cool."
Pedroia's doubles give him 69 extra-base hits this season, tops among American League second basemen and moving him into a first-place tie with Bobby Doerr (1940) on Boston's all-time list for extra base hits in a season by a second baseman. He has 305 total bases, breaking Doerr's 1950 mark of 304 for the most in a season by a Red Sox second baseman.
Pedroia also became the eighth player in Sox history with 50 doubles in a season. Teammate David Ortiz became No. 7 when he racked up 52 last year.
But for Pedroia, the excitement is in the playing and the winning, not the counting of kudos.
"I dunno, hopefully I can get more hits," he said. "We've still got 13 more games - I hope I don't go 0 for the 13 games.
"But it's definitely nice, it's a big accomplishment. Guys were saying congratulations so it's definitely a big thrill for me."
The Red Sox got a jump on this game, a wobbly jump, but a start nonetheless, after getting smoked, 8-1, in the opener by A.J. Burnett. In the messy first inning, Jacoby Ellsbury walked and Pedroia followed with his first double, a shot to right field that sent Ellsbury to third.
Kevin Youkilis worked through his at-bat with ferocity, grimacing as if he wanted to chomp on the ball. With the count 2-2, Jesse Litsch threw a wild pitch and Ellsbury rushed home. Catcher Gregg Zaun retrieved the ball, his throw to Litsch covering home missed its target and Pedroia came barreling in, running across the plate and extending his hand to slap five with Ellsbury without breaking stride.
"I saw Jacoby go and I had a big lead," said Pedroia. "I just went and saw the throw get by him, just kind of took a chance I guess."
"That was a great way to start the game," said manager Terry Francona. "It brought a ton of energy into the ballpark. Then [we gave] up five [in the second], but we kept plugging, and kept plugging, and it paid off."
Francona wasn't keeping count of Pedroia's hits either - he's frequently getting them, so why count?
"I didn't know going in," Francona said. "I knew he had a bunch. He keeps playing the way he plays, they're going to keep throwing balls out because he's going to do more stuff. He's an amazing player."
For Pedroia, always bursting with energy in the moment, it was the whipping in the afternoon game that had to be addressed.
"After getting beat the way we did the first game - A.J. was dominating and they kind of whupped on us a little bit - we definitely wanted to come out with some energy," Pedroia said.
The Sox came back in the last three innings of the nightcap as their bats began cracking hits.
"We needed to win that game," said Pedroia. "Toronto's playing great. They've got a great pitching staff. Every single one of their guys has great stuff and they command the zone so as a hitter it definitely makes it tough on us.
"To battle back like that is a huge win for us."
Barbara Matson can be reached at matson@globe.com. 