Pedroia, Solid Pitching Leads Red Sox To First Win
BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Red Sox are in the win column, thanks to an all-around team effort up in Toronto.
The pitching staff did their part, but it was timely hitting from their sparkplug at second base that led Boston to a 4-2 win over the Blue Jays Monday night.
Dustin Pedroia, who was one of the first players to arrive at the Rogers Centre around 12:30pm on Monday, collected two hits for the second straight game, going 2-for-4 with a solo home run in the sixth and timely ninth inning double that started the game-winning rally.
"Hopefully it sparked us," Pedroia said of his night at the plate. "I'm just trying to put good at bats together this early in the season. Everyone's got nerves going. It's hard to settle down and find your rhythm."
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Pedroia cut the Blue Jays 2-0 lead in half with his first homer of the season, a 414-foot shot to left field off Jays starter Henderson Alvarez. He then sparked a 3-run, ninth inning rally by leading things off with a double. After to moving to third on a wild pitch, Pedroia scored the tying run on a sac-fly by Adrian Gonzalez.
But Pedroia would not take all the credit. The Red Sox pitching staff came through, with starter Felix Doubront allowing just two runs over five innings, Scott Atchison going two perfect innings in relief, and interim closer Alfredo Aceves picking up his first save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth.
"They did great," Pedroia said of the pitching staff. "Felix was awesome; came out and attacked the zone. I thought he was great. Atch was awesome. He got the ball to Ace and Ace went out there and did his thing. Our guys have great stuff. We all trust them and we have their back."
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And with everything coming together, at least for one night in Toronto, Pedroia and the Sox are feeling a lot better about themselves.
"We're going to come out every day, play hard and try to win. We had a couple of tough ones in Detroit, but we're going to bounce back and play as hard as we can every single night," said Pedroia. "We've had some tough times here; the end of last season and the first couple games. You just have to stick with it, grind it out. If we stick with it we're going to be alright."
