Pedroia's AB hit streak ends 1 shy of MLB record

BOSTON -- The streak of excellence by Dustin Pedroia over the last three days was nearly historic, and the Red Sox couldn't help but get a little caught up in the excitement.
When Pedroia stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning of Saturday's 8-3 victory over the Royals, he had belted hits in 11 straight at-bats and reached base in 12 straight plate appearances.
With one more hit, he would have tied Boston's Pinky Higgins, (1938), Detroit's Walt Dropo (1952) and the Cubs' Johnny Kling (1902) as the only players in history to have hits in 12 straight at-bats. But Pedroia hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

"That's probably one of the coolest things you're going to experience," Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. "Obviously, he's such a great teammate as he is and a great player also, and it was awesome to see him go through that."
Of course, Pedroia wouldn't be who he is if he got caught up in it.
"We're trying to win games," Pedroia said. "It's late in the year, and we're a game out of first place. I don't really have time to sit back and pat myself on the back for anything. We're trying to win as a team."
Did Pedroia even know he was on the verge of history?
"I heard something, but I didn't know what it was," Pedroia said. "I was going to the bathroom, and I heard them say it on TV. I didn't really catch what they were saying."
Teammates talk, and they knew something special was in progress.
"That's special," said lefty ace David Price, who earned the win. "Whenever your name is up there with guys in black-and-white photos, that's pretty special. He's a gamer. You know, he's a very special teammate, and everybody in here definitely cherishes what he brings to this team every single day. So we're all happy for him."
The streak started with Pedroia pounding out three hits in his last three at-bats of Thursday's 2-1 loss at Tropicana Field. He went 4-for-4 with a walk in Friday's 6-3 defeat to the Royals. And the hits continued to pile up on Saturday, starting with a leadoff single to left in the first, a double off the Monster in the second, a single to left-center in the fourth and a single up the middle in the sixth.
It was Pedroia's third straight game at Fenway with four hits or more, starting with his five-hit performance against Arizona on Aug. 14. He is the first player since 1913 to accomplish that feat.
"It's a crazy game," Pedroia said. "We've faced some pretty good pitchers. It's just one of those things. You're locked in. The guys I've faced, those guys are really tough, so you just have hot streaks."
When Pedroia came up in the eighth, everyone in the home dugout was engaged in the moment.
"It was fun," Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts said. "It was definitely fun to watch that. We were all locked in every time he came to the plate, and he was locked in, too. It was definitely fun to be part of something like that.
"It was like one of those things, like a pitcher having a perfect game type of thing. Everybody knows it, but nobody says anything. Everybody knew, but we didn't say anything. We definitely enjoyed it."