Dustin Pedroia Has Hottest Bat in Boston as Sox Head Into Final Series With Yankees

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.

Mired in a tough stretch, the Boston Red Sox head into the final three games of the season with one of the usual suspects leading the way at the plate.

Dustin Pedroia has been the Red Sox' most consistent hitter in the second half of the season, regaining his form after a rough month of June. The second baseman posted a .307 average in the month of September and has hit safely in his last two games.

Pedroia has had success against the Yankees in 2012, going 13-for-40 (.325) with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs in 10 games.

The only other players coming in at or above the baseline 72 rating are Guillermo Quiroz — who has just two major-league at-bats — and Ryan Kalish, who has not registered an at-bat since Sept. 11 against these Yankees.

On the other side of the diamond, Robinson Cano has been raking of late and is leading the Yankees with a whopping 108 rating on the temperature gauge. Not only is Cano on a six-game hitting streak, but he has at least two hits in each game and has five home runs during the streak.

Veterans Eric Chavez, Nick Swisher and Ichiro Suzuki are all also on solid streaks. The trio hit a combined 13-for-37 (.351) in four games agains the Blue Jays with Chavez adding two home runs.

Here are the hitting temperatures for the Yankees and Red Sox for Monday, Oct. 1.

Red Sox

Dustin Pedroia, 75
Guillermo Quiroz, 73
Ryan Kalish, 72
Danny Valencia, 71
Pedro Ciriaco, 70
Mike Aviles, 68
Che-Hsuan Lin, 68
Scott Podsednik, 68
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 65
Cody Ross, 63
James Loney, 63
Daniel Nava, 63
Jacoby Ellsbury, 63
Ivan De Jesus, 59
Ryan Lavarnway, 57
Mauro Gomez, 56
Jose Iglesias, 51

Yankees

Robinson Cano, 108
Eric Chavez, 85
Nick Swisher, 82
Ichiro Suzuki, 82
Chris Dickerson, 77
Raul Ibanez, 73
Eduardo Nunez, 73
Mark Teixeira, 72
Brett Gardner, 72
Melky Mesa, 72
Francisco Cervelli, 72
Chris Stewart, 71
Derek Jeter, 70
Andruw Jones, 68
Alex Rodriguez, 68
Casey McGehee, 67
Russell Martin, 66
Curtis Granderson, 62
Jayson Nix, 61

Photo via Flickr/Keith Allison