Forgive Dustin Pedroia if he's finding it hard to get excited over his modest 16-game hitting streak. After all, this season it's only the third-longest on his own team.
Pedroia, the Boston Red Sox second baseman who's rediscovered his All-Star form at the plate, continued to pad his gaudy stat total Friday by notching three hits in Boston's 8-1 win over Minnesota, including a pair of doubles. The productive night raised Pedroia's slash line to .320/.379/.490 - collectively his best rates in at least five years - and extended MLB's longest hitting streak to 16 games.
Not that he cares.
"I don't give a shit," Pedroia said, according to the Boston Herald's Jason Mastrodonato. He added, "I'm just playing the game. That's my job, to go out there and play and help us win games."
Pedroia has indeed helped the bottom line, having played a large part in Boston's league-leading offense, even if his exploits have been overshadowed by his All-Star worthy teammates.
Boston's strong play through 60 games has been fueled by the terrific hitting of Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts, owners of the majors' longest hitting streaks this season at 29 and 26 games, respectively. Then there's David Ortiz, the legendary Red Sox slugger who's putting together one of the best final seasons in baseball history.
Just don't forget about Pedroia, the 32-year-old former MVP who might just be having the best season of his career.
"There have been a lot of guys grabbing headlines," manager John Farrell said, according to ESPN's Scott Lauber. "Seemingly when one guy is having an extended run with consecutive-hit games, there is another guy that goes under the radar until he's in the mid-teens. Pedey is that guy right now."
