It's uncanny: when Dustin Pedroia bats fourth, he somehow becomes a legitimate cleanup hitter. He's only played seven games there before tonight, but in those seven games he's hit .560/.571/1.080 with three homers.
Tonight makes it four. With two outs and the bases empty in the third inning, Dustin Pedroia hit a rocket--make that laser over the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead over Brett Cecil and the Blue Jays.
The first two runs came in the second inning. After allowing just one man to reach in the first when he hit Adrian Gonzalez, Cecil gave up a leadoff double into right to David Ortiz, who then came around to score when Jason Varitek planted one off the wall in left for a double of his own. Cecil might have escaped with just the one run, but Mike McCoy (filling in for late scratch Yunel Escobar) booted a sharp ground ball from J.D. Drew, letting the Sox catcher round third and score the second run of the night.
Meanwhile, Jon Lester has been something else, allowing just the one walk to J.P. Arencibia. Unfortunately, after four innings the Red Sox seem to be ready to bring in Matt Albers. Jon Lester finished the fourth inning strong with his fifth strikeout of the night, but Matt Albers is warming up, and Jon Lester seems to have left the dugout. Definitely not a good sign.