"Last month, when Carl Crawford was mired in the worst slump he could recall, manager Terry Francona dropped him in the Red Sox [team stats] lineup in order to relieve some of the pressure on the $142 million left fielder.

But Francona hasn't taken the same approach with Dustin Pedroia.

Pedroia, who had six hits in his previous 53 at-bats entering yesterday's game against the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park, remained in his familiar No. 2 spot, where he has batted throughout the majority of his career. The second baseman delivered a single in the seventh inning and finished 1-for-4, leaving his average at .236 following the 4-0 Sox victory.

"I like to leave him where he is," Francona said. "I've been around him long enough to know that he will get every bit as hot as he got cold. I know my job is to remain positive, but this is an easy one. With Carl being new, I thought he was feeling it a little bit. I understand it. It's human nature. I thought it would help him."

Francona said it isn't easy to identify what Pedroia has been doing at the plate. Mostly, Francona said Pedroia has been swinging at too many bad pitches.

"He's chasing balls out of the (strike) zone, especially breaking balls," Francona said. "Once you do that, all of a sudden the fastball beats you because you're trying to lay off the breaking ball. It's easy as a hitter to get caught in between, and he's been doing it now for a little bit."