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Dustin Pedroia got right back into the swing of things Thursday after stint on the disabled list. (AP)
There’s nothing quite like coming back from two weeks on the disabled list with a thumb injury and being thrown into the fire like Dustin Pedroia was Thursday night at Fenway Park.
But the fiery Red Sox second baseman, who spent the last 15 days rehabbing his strained right thumb, isn’t about to complain after going 1-for-4 and making contact in all four plate appearances in a 3-1 heart-thumping Red Sox win over the White Sox Thursday night.
He also handled all four chances at second base flawlessly and recorded three outs in a busy night for him.
“Great, great,” Pedroia said when asked how he felt. “Felt good. Felt fine. Felt good at the plate, just build on tonight and get after it [Friday].”
After flying out in his first two at bats, he singled sharply to right in his third attempt against rookie hurler Jose Quintana. The ability to spray the ball all over the field is a Pedroia trademark and that’s what he did Thursday, flying out to center and left before singling to right to start a rally in the seventh.
“He was real good,” Pedroia said of Quintana. “We were trying to attack him. His ball was moving late and we were putting the ball in play and not very hard so he did a great job.”
Pedroia would have one more chance to do damage in the ninth when Carl Crawford opened with a single to right. Pedroia smashed a grounder to third where Eduardo Escobar threw low to second base. Crawford was forced but Pedroia beat out the relay to first to keep the pressure on the White Sox and manager Robin Ventura, who decided to go to the bullpen to start the ninth.
“We hit some balls good,” Pedroia said. “They played good defense and their starter was awesome, threw the ball great. We got [Quintana] out of there at the end but it was a great win for us.”
