BOSTON — Dustin Pedroia sat in front of his locker as he finished up changing into his street clothes. A throng of reporters anxiously awaited behind the Red Sox second baseman in search of an update on his thumb.
Moments after finishing his return to the Red Sox lineup after being diagnosed with a torn adductor muscle in his right thumb following a May 30 game against the Tigers, Pedroia turned to field questions.
And as he turned around, there was a noticeable bump on his forehead.
"It feels great," Pedroia said in regards to the thumb. "The only problem I had was when Salty [Jarrod Saltalamacchia] hit the home run, David [Ortiz] elbowed me in the face and almost knocked me out."
The Sox ended up losing in 10 innings, despite Saltalamacchia's game-tying, two-run home run in the ninth inning, but in terms of Pedroia's health — at least his thumb — it was a successful return to the lineup.
"It hurt man," he said of the inadvertent elbow, "but the thumb feels good. just gotta get used to the guard and getting my timing back a little bit, but other than that, I felt fine."
Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine revealed prior to the game that Pedroia would be wearing the protective guard, but was quick to note that he didn't think it would make much of a difference.
It's clear that there's at least a little bit of getting used to for Pedroia in regards to the guard and getting his timing back like he mentioned. The second baseman went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts, but did add a sacrifice fly.
"My last few at-bats," recalled Pedroia, "I felt more comfortable and seeing the ball better and my timing was better. So I'm gonna look to build on that [Wednesday] and try to do something to help us."
Valentine didn't see any real problems from Pedroia, either.
"They made some pretty good pitches and a couple of called strikes on him were pretty tough," Valentine said after the game. "He was healthy, especially considering he hadn't had an at-bat in eight days. It was a pretty good performance. I thought he was on most of the pitches."
Pedroia said that he expects to be wearing the brace for no more than a few weeks.
