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Pedroia has four hits as Red Sox crush White Sox

Aug 31, 2008 - 4:50 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Dustin Pedroia is proving that he and the Boston Red Sox can overcome just about anything and win.

With Kevin Youkilis and Coco Crisp out sick and J.D. Drew and Sean Casey injured, the red-hot Pedroia had four hits from the cleanup spot, and Mark Kotsay added three hits and drove in three runs as the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-2, on Saturday.

Pedroia posted his second straight four-hit game, becoming the first Red Sox player to accomplish the feat since Wade Boggs on June 8-10, 1989.

Pedroia, with eight hits and two walks, has reached base 10 straight times in the first two games.

"I'm just trying to get my pitch to hit and I'm getting it," Pedroia said. "I'm trying to get on base, that's my job. Sometimes you go through times in the year where you're not very good and then you go through times where you are good. Last couple of days I've gotten on base every time. It's just one of those things."

Righthander Michael Bowden (1-0) made his major league debut yielding two runs and seven hits in five innings to notch the win after making six starts at Class AAA Pawtucket.

"I thought his poise and his mound presence was outstanding," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Early on, a lot of fastballs - fell behind the first hitter. As he got into the game, he started using his changeup and his breaking ball. He's got enough on his fastball and he's got some deception."

The 21-year-old filled the rotation spot vacated when Josh Beckett was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow inflammation on Friday.

"He got us on a bad day," a less-than-impressed White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He's OK. He didn't really impress me. He beat a team that right now is not swinging the bat well. The first inning, he threw all fastballs. We're a fastball-hitting team and we couldn't get him.

"When you deserve credit, I'll give you credit. He didn't impress me. He was good enough to beat the White Sox tonight."

Guillen's bad day got worse when the White Sox intentionally walked Pedroia in his fifth plate appearance, drawing boos from the crowd.

"I never thought I would walk a jockey," Guillen said of the diminutive Pedroia. "I must be the worst manager ever in the history of baseball right now, walking a guy that just came from being on top of Big Brown to beat the White Sox. Right now, he's on a roll. I get opportunities to walk him to face Big Papi, I will do it, whoever hits in front of him. This guy right now is on fire. No matter what you throw there, he's going to get it. I can't believe it. You change professions from one year to another. To go from the Kentucky Derby to the Boston Red Sox ball park and perform, that's amazing."

Bowden walked Orlando Cabrera to start the game but A.J. Pierzynski broke his bat on a pop-up and a fooled Cabrera was doubled off, which helped Bowden to relax.

"I think it was inevitable that I was going to walk the first guy because my heart was pounding pretty hard," Bowden said. "But after that first guy, I settled down, got into a rhythm and that double play helped me out a lot."

The win had extra meaning for Bowden.

"It was a little extra-special because, growing up a Cubs fan, it was special beating the White Sox," he said. "For my debut, it's pretty awesome."

Mark Buehrle (11-11) struggled from the start, allowing seven runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings as his personal three-game winning streak came to an end.

"Everything was high," Guillen said. "When Buehrle's high, that's what you're going to get."

Instead of his customary No. 2 spot, Pedroia batted fourth in the order behind David Ortiz for the first time in his career.

"This isn't something we'll do the rest of the year," Francona said of the unorthodox move. "We're a little bit sick and banged up."

Pedroia, who started to hear chants of "M-V-P" after his leaping grab of Joe Crede's liner in the seventh, did not miss a beat batting fourth. One night after setting the club's all-time single-season record for runs by a second baseman, he scored two more on Saturday.

His four hits gave him a major league-leading 182 on the season.

"If you're that good a player, or you're a hot hitter, or you combine them both, things like that happen," Francona said. "He's a great hitter that's seeing the ball. He's covering the plate right now."

The chants from the crowd grew prior to his fourth at-bat in the seventh, when he singled to right field.

The Red Sox scored three runs off Buehrle in the first, an inning highlighted by Jason Bay's two-run, ground-rule double to deep center field. Rookie Jeff Bailey added his first homer this season in a two-run second inning as the Red Sox raced to a 5-1 lead.

Kotsay's two-run double in the fifth pushed the advantage to 7-2.