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Pedroia powers Red Sox past Orioles

Sep 2, 2008 - 3:34 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The changing of the calendar didn't affect the red-hot Dustin Pedroia.

The hottest hitter on the Boston Red Sox had two more hits and set a new club record with his 184th of the season as a second baseman as the hosts held off the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4, at Fenway Park on Monday.

The record-breaking hit came in the sixth inning and capped a key four-run rally. Pedroia batted .374 and scored 33 runs in 26 games in August.

"The guys we have on this team now, we're all baseball players," Pedroia said. "We're just out here to win games. Nobody cares about their performances, it's us. It's been fun. The last month has been a great time."

Boston starter Paul Byrd (10-11) scattered four runs and seven hits, including three solo homers, over seven innings to pick up the win.

"I can't say enough about my second baseman here," Byrd said of Pedroia. "This guy, in my opinion, is the MVP of the league.

"He's unbelievable. I didn't know he was that good when I came over here. The guy plays hard, he dives, he plays great defense. He's up for every game. He get the hit when it counts, clutch player."

The two teams played long ball in the first three innings. Adam Jones drilled the first pitch he saw from Byrd over the "Green Monster" and onto Lansdowne Street with one out in the first to give Baltimore a 1-0 advantage.

After walking the bases loaded in the first, only to escape when Jed Lowrie struck out, Garrett Olson wasn't as fortunate in the second.

The unlikely combination of Jason Varitek and Jeff Bailey did damage on consecutive pitches in the second. The Baltimore southpaw left a 1-0 fastball up to Jason Varitek, who lined a drive off the Fisk Pole in left, just above the 37-foot wall. Varitek's 11th homer of the season leading off the inning tied the game at 1-1.

Bailey followed with a towering drive over the "Monster" seats on the next pitch, giving Boston a 2-1 lead.

An even more unlikely hitter went deep in the third when Juan Castro, entering the game hitting .204 with a homer and 13 RBI, belted a Byrd fastball to the second row of seats in left to tie the game again at 2-2.

"I thought I was throwing the ball really well," Byrd said. "I'd throw nine or 10 good pitches then I'd leave one right over the middle of the plate. I'm frustrated I gave up three home runs but I'm glad we won the game."

"When he made a mistake or two, they hit them a long way," Red Sox manager Terry Francona added. "Adam Jones hit that ball and could pick it up on his way home. But then (Byrd) made his pitches, and he was pretty good.

"You look up in the fifth and I think he had 51 pitches, and on a night when we needed to stay away from (Manny) Delcarmen and (Justin) Masterson, getting us to where he got us was very helpful."

The Orioles briefly regained the lead when Nick Markakis singled home Castro in the sixth,.but the Red Sox knocked Olson out of the game in the bottom half of the frame with four runs. Jason Bay and Lowrie had consecutive one-out doubles to tie the game, Coco Crisp's looping liner scored Lowrie with the go-ahead run and Pedroia's two-run single to right capped the rally.

Following an infield single by Jacoby Ellsbury, hard-throwing righthander Dennis Sarfate was called on to face Pedroia.

The AL. MVP candidate lined a fastball to right to cap the rally.

"I wouldn't say he's carried us, but he's done a great job," Francona said of Pedroia. "He's a good player. Tonight, Coco gets a big hit, and a kid comes in throwing 95 (miles per hour), probably off the plate away. Petey's going one way and the bat head's going another and he hits a bullet to right. He just has an amazing knack to get the barrel of the bat on the ball."

"They're an aggressive-hitting club, but a lot of things happen when you get behind, especially in the sixth," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said. "He got behind and then was forced to come in there. We couldn't get the third out before Pedroia got the big hit. Obviously, he is having a tremendous season and is an exceptional player."

Olson allowed six runs on six hits, while walking five over 5 2/3 innings.

"Those guys have a knack for coming up with the big hit in those kind of situations," Trembley said. "We had the lead and we needed to put a zero up after we scored there in the sixth and it didn't happen. It didn't happen."

Kevin Millar connected for Baltimore's third solo homer of the night off Byrd in the seventh. Jonathan Papelbon converted his 35th save in 39 chances by pitching the ninth for Boston, which improved to 3-1 on its six-game homestand.

"We have to find a way to win one and then find a way to win another one - and if we win the second one, we have to find a way to sweep them," Pedroia said.

The Orioles fell to 63-74, a season-high 11 games under .500.