Pedroia: 'I'll get hits - don't worry'

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia went 1-for-4 with an infield hit on Saturday, and he is now 2-for-20 since his return from a torn muscle in his right thumb. The 28-year-old said that his struggles reflect issues with timing after his layoff rather than either lingering pain from the injury or an issue with the brace that he is wearing on his thumb.

"I'll get hits -- don't worry," said Pedroia. "I feel all right. My timing's still a little off. I'm a little late on the heater and a little early on offspeed pitches. I'll have one at-bat where it clicks and take off. ... The last few days I've hit the ball actually pretty good. Today I really didn't. But I've got to start finding a way to get on base and help us score runs."

Pedroia said that his thumb feels "good. It's healing." 

Pedroia also noted that despite coming up limping after beating out an infield single on Saturday, his ankle is fine. In his 48 games before the thumb injury, the 28-year-old second baseman was hitting .295/.350/.450 with 14 doubles and five home runs.

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