At the outset of the Red Sox’s three-game series in The Bronx, Dustin Pedroia told Boston reporters “the storm’s coming.”
The Red Sox hope Sunday night was the first of many bolts of lightning from their spark-plug second baseman.
“After 162 games, I’ll be right where I normally am,” he said, matter-of-factly.
Pedroia enjoyed one of his best nights at the plate in what has been a frustrating season, stroking a two-run single in the fifth, adding two other hits and a sacrifice fly as the Red Sox won the rubber match of the three-game set, 8-5, over the Yankees.
With the win, Boston snapped a streak of five straight series it had lost on the road.
“These are key,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said after his club moved to within six games of the first-place Blue Jays. “Despite being at the end of June, where we are in the standings, every series is critical for us.”
The three RBIs were Pedroia’s second-highest total of the season. He had four RBIs in a May 2 win over the Athletics. The bases-loaded knock was particularly significant, for Pedroia and the Red Sox, both of whom have struggled with runners in scoring position, but thrived in those pressurized situations Sunday.
On a 1-1 fastball from reliever Shawn Kelley, Pedroia didn’t try to do too much, lacing the offering down the right-field line. He also singled ahead of David Ortiz’s mammoth three-run home run into the second deck in right center field in the third, Ortiz’s 450th career home run and 41st round-tripper at Yankee Stadium.
“We’re counting now,” Ortiz said, referring to his chase of 500 career long balls.
Like Pedroia, Ortiz hasn’t had his best season, particularly with his batting average — which is at just .253 — he does have 19 homers and 52 RBIs. Ortiz said it’s not just on him and Pedroia: The Red Sox need everyone going at the same time to get back into the race.
That was the case Sunday night. It was a big night offensively for all of the Red Sox, who pounded out 12 hits and their most runs in more than two weeks, after being held to fewer than three in 11 of their previous 13 games.
Every hitter in the Boston lineup had at least one hit and only Stephen Drew and A.J. Pierzynski failed to score. It was the longtime stars, Pedroia and Ortiz — with three RBIs apiece — who led the charge.
“They’re part of the middle of our order. If we’re setting the table with other guys getting on base, that certainly will lengthen things out,” Farrell said. “But they’ve carried their weight for a long, long time, and they’ve got very strong track records. Before this season’s out, I think we’ll look up and their numbers will be right in line with their career.”