NESN

Dustin Pedroia Continues to Lift Team as Red Sox Hope More Players Will Join Hitting Show

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.

Dustin Pedroia has made the late stretch of the season his playground, reigniting the laser show as his batting average climbs upward and the hits roll in.

But Pedroia's fireworks have been mostly a wasted effort over the past week or two, as the rest of the Red Sox' bats have continued to ice over amid some hard losses.

Pedroia cranked a homer Friday night and plated another run (his 400th career RBI) as the Sox lost at home against the Blue Jays. Boston will have another chance to put a notch in the win column on Saturday night, with Pedroia ready to start his newest hitting streak, which is just one game long after he went hitless Wednesday, breaking his previous, 15-game streak.

Cody Ross will also try to rediscover his former magic Saturday. He had a powerful tail end to the West Coast road trip, with six hits and six RBIs over the last four games, and had one hit Friday night against the Jays.

Here are the Red Sox' and Blue Jays' temperatures for Saturday, Sept. 8:

Red Sox

Dustin Pedroia, 92
Cody Ross, 82
Mauro Gomez, 80
Ryan Kalish, 76
Ivan De Jesus, 65
Mike Aviles, 64
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 61
Scott Podsednik, 60
Jose Iglesias, 59
James Loney, 58
Jacoby Ellsbury, 57
Ryan Lavarnway, 52
Pedro Ciriaco, 51

Blue Jays

Edwin Encarnacion, 76
Yunel Escobar, 73
Omar Vizquel, 73
Anthony Gose, 69
Mike McCoy, 69
Brett Lawrie, 68
Adeiny Hechavarria, 66
Yan Gomes, 64
Moises Sierra, 64
J.P. Arencibia, 62
Kelly Johnson, 61
Colby Rasmus, 61
Rajai Davis, 61
Yorvit Torrealba, 61
Adam Lind, 54
Jeff Mathis, 48