"Somebody was going to put an end to the nonsense.

Somebody was going to step up, look the Red Sox' six-game losing streak in the face, utter an obscenity and shove it out of the way.

Nobody can be shocked that Dustin Pedroia was that guy.

In the Red Sox' 9-6 victory yesterday over the Yankees, Pedroia's sweat, eyeblack, pine-tar and dirt-smeared fingerprints were all over the first win of the season.

It's wheels-up, finally, on the Red Sox' 2011 season and there was Pedroia, pumping air under their wings.

A solo home run in the first, a two-run go-ahead single in the second, a perfect wide slide at home plate in the second, a key pivot in an inning-ending double play in the sixth — Pedroia was the biggest hero the Red Sox had at a time when the team was desperately looking for one."