Editor's note: The temperature gauge is a Bill James-created statistic that measures how hot or cold hitters are. We will spotlight Red Sox and opposing team temperatures on game days.
Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia continued his hot-hitting ways on Friday, extending his hitting streak to 12 games in a 6-4 loss to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Pedroia celebrated his 29th birthday in style, launching a three-run shot off Phil Hughes in the third inning to give the Sox a 4-3 lead. Though Pedroia couldn't do anything in his other three at-bats, he remains Boston's hottest hitter, posting a .426 average (20-for-47) and a 1.140 OPS during his streak.
The Yankees' Nick Swisher has a six-game hitting streak of his own, and he did some damage in Friday's victory, going 2-for-3 with two solo home runs.
Continuing with the streaking theme, Derek Jeter did Pedroia one better on Friday and extended his own hitting streak to 13 games with a home run off Franklin Morales in the fifth inning. Jeter is enjoying another fine season at the plate and, with a .319 batting average, seems set to crack the .300 barrier for the 12th time in his Hall of Fame career. He also leads all of baseball with 160 hits this season.
One player the Red Sox did manage to cool down on Friday was Ichiro Suzuki, who went 0-for-3. In his previous 10 games, Suzuki had batted .444 (12-for-27).
Here are the Red Sox and Yankees temperatures for Saturday, Aug. 18.
Red Sox
Dustin Pedroia 90
Carl Crawford 81
Adrian Gonzalez 76
Scott Podsednik 75
Jacoby Ellsbury 72
Mike Aviles 68
Danny Valencia 68
Cody Ross 64
Pedro Ciriaco 61
Nick Punto 61
Ryan Lavarnway 60
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 50
Yankees
Eric Chavez 98
Nick Swisher 93
Derek Jeter 86
Ichiro Suzuki 85
Raul Ibanez 75
Chris Stewart 72
Casey McGehee 71
Mark Teixeira 68
Andruw Jones 66
Russell Martin 66
Robinson Cano 64
Curtis Granderson 61
Jayson Nix 61
