Undeniably, Boston, which trailed Weaver at the time 2-1, needed a big hit. But the manner in which Pedroia delivered it provided so much more than the lead. It served as the catalyst for an offensive outburst the likes of which the 2011 Red Sox have rarely seen.
Pedroia battled Weaver, who entered 6-0 with a 0.99 ERA, for 13 pitches. He fouled off nine of them, including one off his left foot, much in the same way he did when he broke it last year in San Francisco.
The last of the bunch, the fourth fastball of the encounter, was smacked back up the middle, scoring two and giving Boston a lead it would not lose.
"I was just trying to put the ball in play," he said. "Jered's tough. I've faced him a lot in college and in the big leagues. Haven't won too many of those but it was nice to drive in a couple and kind of get everything going."
That he did, for the Red Sox would plate six in the seventh to blow the game wide open. It represented a season high for runs in one inning and the nine total runs tied a team high for the year. Nobody was shocked that it all began with Pedroia.
"He has a way of doing that," manager Terry Francona said. "He plays the game. He's a ballplayer."
Francona had more than Pedroia's long at-bat on his mind when saying that. In the top of the fifth, his second baseman made a play with his glove that may have been just as important.
With the bases loaded and one out in a 1-1 game, Bobby Abreu knocked a comebacker that got a piece of Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz. On contact, Pedroia was flying toward second base, but he had to dive back to his left when the ball was deflected, all with a runner bearing down on him. Pedroia backhanded the ball, turned on a knee and fed shortstop Jed Lowrie for a force and the second out of the frame.
A run scored to give the Angels a lead, but the play prevented a big inning and ultimately changed the flow of the game. It also had Pedroia's teammates marveling in the clubhouse.
"Any time you have to make an adjustment like that when there's a deflection, especially when the ball is hard hit," Lowrie said. "A lot of times when there's a deflection it slows it down a lot. It was still hard-hit. Even though it slowed down, it was still going quick, so the redirection he had to do and knock it down and get it to me quickly, it was a quality play.
"He just seems like he has a knack of making big plays in big spots, that's why he's a great player. It seems like he's always in the right spot at the right time."
Still, it was the at-bat that many will remember, especially if the nine-run outburst leads to many more productive nights for the heretofore struggling offense.
"Phenomenal at-bat," catcher Jason Varitek said. "Doing what he does, battling. He hadn't had the greatest first two at-bats. He hung in there, hung in there, hung in there, hung in and got a ball up and hit it up the middle."
And, potentially, woke up the Red Sox offense.
