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Pedroia chips in, at last

9:23 PM Mon, Oct 06, 2008 | Permalink
Kevin McNamara

BY KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Dustin Pedroia popped up in the first inning to fall to 0-for-14 for the series but he contributed with his glove just a few innings later.

With runners on first and second with two outs in the third inning, Vladimir Guerrero dug in against Jon Lester. Guerrero quickly fell behind in the count and ultimately dribbled a grounder back to Lester's left. Guerrero seemed to assume that Lester would gobble the ball up but when it snuck under the pitcher's glove, the Angels' power hitter took off much harder for first.

Pedroia charged the loose grounder hard and flipped it to Mark Kotsay just in the nick of time for the third out of the inning.

Pedroia wears his emotion on his sleeve and he was more than frustrated entering Game Four.

Pedroia, who finished the season with a .326 average and 54 doubles, entered the game 0-for-13 in the series with two strikeouts in three games.

"I'm frustrated," he said. "I hit some balls hard but just didn't get anything going. It's a tough time to go 0-for-13. I'll battle. Everyone knows that. It's not lack of effort. I've got to find a way to get on base for these guys. Everybody else is swinging the bat well, so I've got to do that."