Pedroia Back At Cleanup For Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) - Dustin Pedroia is set to make his 13th career start as the Red Sox clean-up hitter Friday night against the Royals.
The way Pedroia hits from the four-spot, Terry Francona may want to keep his second baseman there even after the injured Kevin Youkilis returns.
Pedroia went 3-for-4 with a double and drove in three runs in Boston's 4-3 win over the Royals Thursday night. He is now batting .481 (25-for-52) in his career batting clean-up with six doubles, five homers and 14 RBI.
Pedroia (or Laser Show, The Muddy Chicken, or most recently Dusty 2 Sacks) is hitting .400 with three doubles, three homers and eight RBI at clean-up in 2011.
"Just because a couple of our main guys are out doesn't mean we're going to change our approach," Pedroia said Thursday night when asked about batting from the four-spot. "It's not like I'm going to try and hit home runs; become a home run hitter. I have to try to make sure I stay within myself and try to put good at bats together."
Read: Prospect Lavarnway Joins Red Sox With Open Mind
"(We're) just trying to win games right now. We're getting close to the end here and we're all trying to do our job. Wherever we hit, we're all trying to produce," he said.
Here is the Red Sox lineup for Friday night's game:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Mike Aviles, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Jed Lowrie, 3B
Ryan Lavarnway, DH
Carl Crawford, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Darnell McDonald, RF
With a double-header earlier in the week, Boston sends lefty Andrew Miller (4-1, 5.40 ERA) to the mound in a spot start. The Royals counter with Jeff Francis (4-13, 5.40 ERA).
