Slumping Pedroia Back In Red Sox Lineup
BOSTON (CBS) - A clean-shaven Dustin Pedroia stepped on to the Fenway Park grass Friday afternoon, ready for the Red Sox to open a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins.
But the shave has nothing to do with the second baseman's recent slump.
"I don't like shaving, but I get to the point where my wife yells at me and I have to shave," Pedroia said, adding that he is not a superstitious person.
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Pedroia is back in the Red Sox lineup Friday night after getting Thursday afternoon off. It came at a time when the second baseman was hitting just .241 and is 0-for-10 with five strikeouts his last two games.
Dustin Pedroia Talks Slump, Hitting With WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Jonny Miller
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"The last two-and-a-half weeks I haven't really felt to well at the plate," Pedroia said. "I've been working hard. This isn't my first time going through something like this, I usually do it every year. The good at bats I'm having, I'm not having much luck."
"My biggest thing is when I get in trouble I want to do so well," he added. "I want to hit a double, I want to hit a home run, and when you start doing things like that thinking like that, that's not going to happen. The first step is seeing the ball and letting it come to you and putting a good swing on it."
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Pedroia also sees his team turning things around in the near future.
"We're playing better baseball," Pedroia said despite Boston's 4-6 record their last 10-games. "We started off 2-10, we've been playing pretty good baseball since then. Our pitching has been good. I don't think you can sit there and say we haven't thrown the ball well, we haven't swung the bats better or played better defense. We've done that. Now it's just maintaining that and doing it for the next 130 games."
