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Drew, Pedroia provide spark for Red Sox

Jun 16, 2007 - 4:01 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- The new and improved top of the batting order for the Boston Red Sox took out some frustration on Barry Zito and the San Francisco Giants.

In his second game as the club's leadoff hitter, J.D. Drew had three hits, drove in three runs and scored three times, and rookie Dustin Pedroia added career highs of five hits and five RBI as the Red Sox rolled to a 10-2 victory over the Giants in the first-ever interleague meeting between the teams at Fenway Park.

Drew and Pedroia combined to collect eight of Boston's nine hits in the game, with the other being a leadoff single in the eighth by Coco Crisp.

The Red Sox reached double digits in runs after scoring a total of 10 in their previous five games. During the offensive slump, Boston watched the New York Yankees creep within 7 1/2 games of its American League East Division lead.

"I think more importantly than the lineup shifting, it's when guys swing the bat like that. It's fun to watch," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "J.D. had some real good at-bats. Pedroia had a night that we hope he duplicates a lot of times in his career. He scattered the ball all over the field and took a real good approach."

Friday's contest featured high drama in the first two innings. Dave Roberts played his first game in "Beantown" since stealing second base during a pivotal rally in Game Four of the 2004 American League Championship Series against the Yankees, sparking the greatest comeback in baseball history. He was given a standing ovation and tipped his cap.

Roberts collected two hits and scored San Francisco's first run.

Three batters after the ovation for Roberts, the 36,508 fans gave just the opposite reaction to Barry Bonds. The sellout crowd lustily booed the slugger, who went 1-for-3 with a single and remained eight homers shy of matching Hank Aaron's all-time mark of 755.

"Barry asked me, 'Is it always like this, as far as the buzz, the media?'" Roberts said. "And I said, "Every time you play the Yankees, it's like that, it's like a playoff environment.' These fans really appreciate a winner and effort. It was definitely special and lived up to all my expectations, for sure."

In the bottom of the first, Pedroia - a Giants fan while growing up - rocked Zito with a two-run homer that landed in the seats above the "Green Monster" in left field.

"I was excited to play the Giants," Pedroia said. "They were my team growing up. It was fun for me to see Barry (Bonds) and I was excited the whole day. It was pretty awesome."

One out later, after taking a called third strik, David Ortiz argued with plate umpire Tony Randazzo before throwing his helmet and bat in disgust to earn an ejection.

The five-hit performance by Pedroia, who also had an RBI single in the fourth and two-run double in the eighth, was the first by a Red Sox player since Johnny Damon accomplished the feat against Oakland on July 6, 2004.

"I just put (together) some good swings all day and that was pretty much it," Pedroia said. "I got a pitch to hit in the first inning and hit it. The last at-bat, the same thing. On another one, J.D. was running and created a hole, and sometimes you get it going, you just find holes."

The Red Sox took the lead off Zito (6-7) in the third on a grounder by Manny Ramirez with the bases loaded, then broke open the game with a three-run fourth that was highlighted by Drew's two-run double over Roberts' head in center field.

Zito allowed five hits and seven runs - six earned - while walking four and striking out five in 5 1/2 innings.

"He was erratic with his command tonight," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He worked hard out there, logged a lot of pitches. He didn't have his sharp command tonight. He kind of pitched his way into some jams there and still came close to getting out of that one inning (in the fourth). They end up getting three runs there."

Former Giant Julian Tavarez (4-4) overcame an early two-run deficit to win his third consecutive decision. The righthander, who limited the Giants to two runs and six hits in seven innings, has not lost since May 11.

"Most of those guys haven't faced me in the past very much," Tavarez said. "I think I faced Barry Bonds more than those guys in the past. I said to myself, '(If) I hold those guys right there, I know we're going to win this game because Zito has been struggling in interleague so far.' So that was a team effort today.

"Tavarez kept them in the ballgame and made the pitches he was supposed to make," Roberts added. "They're a very good team, obviously, and hopefully we can bounce back and hopefully it's a different story."

It was the Giants' first trip to Fenway for a regular-season game since June 1915, when the New York Giants played the Boston Braves in a National League contest.