Dustin Pedroia Approaches Hitting Streak as Business as Usual, Showing He’s Dialed in at the Plate

by abournenesn

May 12, 2012

Dustin Pedroia Approaches Hitting Streak as Business as Usual, Showing He's Dialed in at the PlateBOSTON — Dustin Pedroia is boisterous by nature. It's not uncommon to hear the Red Sox second baseman chirping at teammates and reporters before taking the field.

That reputation makes his current feat more impressive. With a single in the first inning of Saturday night's 4-1 win, Pedroia quietly extended his hitting streak to 13 games, marking the longest streak in Major League Baseball.

During Friday's victory over Cleveland, Pedroia put an exclamation point on his sizzling string of success, going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. On Saturday, it was simply business as usual as Pedroia finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.

In the third inning, Pedroia nearly missed clobbering his sixth home run of the season. The ball dropped on the top of the Green Monster, but it was still enough to score Mike Aviles to key a two-run inning.

"[I] always feel good with Pedey at the plate," manager Bobby Valentine said. "I'll take my chances every day with him. We'll win a heck of a lot more than we'll lose."

In the midst of his scorching streak, the All-Star second baseman is batting .357 (20-for-56) with seven doubles, two homers, 11 RBIs, 10 runs, eight walks and two stolen bases. That's one of his strongest starts to a season.

Since April 20, Pedroia has hit safely in 20 of 21 games. Despite the rising production, though, Pedroia isn't buying into the hype. His eyes are on lifting the Red Sox over .500.

"Every win is good," Pedroia said earlier this week. "You know we're trying to play good ball, and hopefully we keep it going. It was a great win for us.”

Pedroia has recorded a hit in all but two of the 17 home games this season.

Have a question for Didier Morais? Send it to him via Twitter at @DidierMorais or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

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