The image wasn't out of the ordinary following the Red Sox' 5-4 win over the Dodgers Saturday.

Dustin Pedroia hurriedly gets dressed at his locker, spews a few minutes of innocuous comments, finishes with a couple pointed jabs (asking writers not to print a salty-ish walk-off), and then it's off to dinner with the rest of the Pedroia clan along his former Arizona State teammate Andre Ethier.

Nothing different. In the world of Pedroia, nothing unique.

But look a little closer and you'll find that these days aren't the norm for the second baseman. Just as was the case throughout the 2007 postseason, when Pedroia hit the two biggest home runs of his life with a cracked hamate bone in his hand, he has been left uttering the same thing over and over the last month.

"I'll find a way," Pedroia has said repeatedly. "I have to."

Saturday, as has been the case over the nine games, he found what he was looking for. This time it came in the form of Pedroia's first-ever walk-off hit -- a two-strike, two-out single off Dodgers 6-foot-4, 295-pound reliever Jonathan Broxton's 98 mph fastball. ("Facing a guy like that, you look at him on the mound and it looked like he was nine feet tall. That first pitch, I was like, jeez, I better wake up. He’s throwing the ball hard," he said.)

And then there was this quote from Pedroia, "It's survival." Most didn't know the half of it.

Thus far, he's found a way to stay on his usual path, hitting .472 (17-for-36) with 11 runs, a homer and two stolen bases sine the last game in Cleveland. But most outside the Red Sox clubhouse don't fathom what it has taken for Pedroia to stay on the island of success.

The battle with Broxton stretched farther than just worrying about the situation, the height difference, and the velocity. 

There is a reason Darnell McDonald reeled in his celebratory tackle, saying after the game, “He’s kind of banged up and if he gets hurt I might not be here tomorrow. It could have been worse but then I started to rationalize, ‘If I hurt this guy, my locker might be cleaned out tomorrow.’ I was reminiscing about playing football for a minute.”

There is a reason Pedroia's right uniform leg looks a little bulky (thanks to a knee brace).

And there is a reason Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan is keeping a watchful eye for where Pedroia's weight ends up on each swing.

Saturday, Pedroia was fending off not only the Dodgers' closer, but another bad day when it came to the albatross that is the pain in his right knee.

"He started wearing a knee brace and it's gotten better as far as putting pressure on his right knee, but I know today it was really bothering him," said Magadan.

"It bothers him to put weight on it. He wasn't getting back. When he's good he's loading in his stance and his weight distribution is 50-50, and then he puts more weight on his backside and he stays on his backside even with his stride. With the injury he really hasn't been able to stay on his backside. That's why you've seen so many check swings, way out in front, and not really driving the ball like he has for three years. It's something he's battling and gotten better. But it's been really frustrating for him."

Pedroia has done everything he can to "figure it out" since watching his batting average drop to .248 on June 9. He started wearing the brace on the last day of the Cleveland series, got his MRI the next day (discovering inflammation and some strained ligaments), received more treatment after Sunday's game and into Monday, and proceeded to come out flying the rest of the week.

Since that Sunday in Cleveland, seven of Pedroia's nine games has seen him notch more than one hit, raising his average to .277, a level he hasn't seen since May 20 (five days after injuring the knee on a slide into home in Detroit).

The knee has been better, and because of it, so has Pedroia.

But Saturday offered a reminder. It's easy to soak in the "Laser Show: Relax" mantra Pedroia has thrown into Red Sox fans' lexicon of late, for the actual participant, however, it's easier said than done. 

But the Red Sox are winning and Pedroia is hitting. Saturday he found a way, and as Magadan points out, there aren't too many who are suggesting he won't do the same in the days to come.

"I never doubt him," the Sox hitting coach said. "There's been many at-bats over the last four years just like (the showdown with Broxton) where a guy throws him a nasty pitch or a high fastball and he chases it. But he also just feels so good when he's hitting. He does dusk a good job of willing himself to get hit that you just have a lot of confidence in him, and you should. He's done too much for you not to have confidence him.

"I"ll never bet against Dustin Pedroia."