Dustin Pedroia Returns as Red Sox Look to Take Second Straight From Blue Jays

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Sep 15, 2012

Dustin Pedroia Returns as Red Sox Look to Take Second Straight From Blue JaysEditor'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.

While Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia celebrated the birth of his second child with his wife, Kelli, on Friday, his teammates began a three-game set with the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Some good hitting and a solid outing by Daisuke Matzsuzaka led the struggling Sox to an 8-5 victory in their opening game with the Jays. With the return of Pedroia, the Red Sox should expect even more offensive production — the 2008 MVP has been on a hot streak over his last seven games, batting a scorching .467 with two home runs and three RBIs.

Toronto, which has also had its fair share of struggles this year, remains just one game ahead of the visiting Red Sox for sole posession of fourth place in the division. The offense took a major hit earlier this season when home run machine Jose Bautista was sidelined for the season with an injury to his hand. Even without Bautista, though, the Blue Jay bats have still made some noise behind the leadership of first baseman Adam Lind, who is batting .281 over the last 30 games as well as Edwin Encarnacion, who became just the second Blue Jay ever to record 40 home runs in a regular season. Lind went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and RBI during Friday's game.

Check out the hitting temperatures for the Red Sox and Blue Jays below.

Red Sox

Dustin Pedroia, 103
Mauro Gomez, 76
Jacoby Ellsbury, 75
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 73
Daniel Nava, 72
Ryan Kalish, 72
Mike Aviles, 67
Ryan Lavarnway, 63
Jose Iglesias, 62
Pedro Ciriaco, 61
Cody Ross, 60
James Loney, 58
Scott Podsednik, 53
Ivan De Jesus, 51

Blue Jays

Adam Lind, 83
Edwin Encarnacion, 79
Jeff Mathis, 73
Mike McCoy, 73
Colby Rasmus, 71
Yan Gomes, 70
Omar Vizquel, 69
Brett Lawrie, 69
Yorvit Torrealba, 67
Adeiny Hechavarria, 66
Anthony Gose, 64
Yunel Escobar, 58
Moises Sierra, 57
Kelly Johnson, 57
Rajai Davis, 57
J.P. Arencibia, 47

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