Pedroia’s 11 hits in a row a near-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.”

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