Pedroia - Hitting On The Road

This is slicing it pretty thin, but ...

Dustin Pedroia has hit safely in 23 consecutive road games, tying Pete Rose and Joey Cora for the 4th-longest streak by a second baseman since 1956.

Johnny Temple   1960-08-21 - 1961-06-09  - 33
Luis Castillo   2002-05-05 - 2002-07-16  - 27
Steve Sax       1985-06-27 - 1985-08-24  - 24
Pete Rose       1965-07-01 - 1965-08-23  - 23
Joey Cora       1997-04-17 - 1997-06-10  - 23
Dustin Pedroia  2008-05-31 - 2008-07-22  - 23

Those are 2B only. The post-1956 record for anyone is 44 games by Derek Jeter (August 20, 2006 to May 28, 2007). Justin Morneau (34, June 22, 2006 to September 15, 2006) is the only other player with a streak longer than Temple's.

The Boston team record (since 1956, the earlier year for which complete play-by-play data exists) is Nomar Garciaparra's 24-game streak in 1998.

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Jonathan Papelbon is the first pitcher in Red Sox history with 30 saves in three consecutive seasons: "It's good to be in the Papelbon Club."

SoSHer mabrowndog looks at the remaining schedules of Boston, Tampa Bay and New York. Re the Rays:

September looks absolutely brutal, with 27 games in 26 days, only 10 of them at home. They've got just one lousy off-day, and that comes on the road between series at Fenway and the Toilet. It's also their toughest month of the season in terms of schedule strength.

Starters for the weekend Yankees series:

Friday,   7:00 PM: Joba Chamberlain / Josh Beckett
Saturday, 3:45 PM: Andy Pettitte / Tim Wakefield
Sunday,   8:00 PM: Sidney Ponson / Jon Lester