Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia follows through on his two-run single during the sixth inning last night, helping propel Boston to a 7-4 triumph over the Orioles at Fenway Park. Pedroia also set the team record for hits by a second baseman in a season.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — On the field, Dustin Pedroia and Paul Byrd combined to beat back the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4, last night and send the Red Sox to their ninth win in the last 13 tries.

After the game, they unwittingly formed a mutual admiration society.

Byrd, though touched for three solo homers, got the Red Sox through seven innings to win for the third time in four starts since joining the team last month. Pedroia turned in a couple of sterling defensive plays, stole a base and collected two hits, including a two-run single in the four-run sixth that opened up the game for the Sox and gave them their fifth straight series-opener win.

Pedroia’s contributions motivated Byrd to join the growing chorus of those who believe the second baseman deserves A.L. MVP consideration.

“I can’t say enough about my second baseman here,” said Byrd. “This guy, in my opinion, is the MVP of the league. He’s unbelievable. I didn’t know he was that good when I came over here. He plays hard, he dives, he plays great defense. He’s up for every game. He gets the hit when it counts. Clutch player. … Seeing him day-in, day-out, and how much he means to his team … I knew he was a good player, and I didn’t like facing him because he was pesky. As he goes, we go.”

Informed of Byrd’s comments, Pedroia seemed humbled.

“He said that?” asked a smiling Pedroia. “Well, that’s a great compliment. I definitely like playing behind him. He attacks the strike one, gives us lots of innings and keeps us in the game.”

Byrd gave up seven hits, though three were homers. He had the good sense to yield them with the bases empty, however.

“I’m frustrated I gave up three home runs,” said Byrd, who won his third straight start, “but I’m glad we won the game. I’m going to address (the homers), go back to doing some things to try and keep the ball down a little better, be more conscious of that and move on.”

“When he made a mistake or two, they hit them a long way,” said manager Terry Francona. “But then he made his pitches and he was pretty good. You look up in the fifth and I think he had (thrown) 51 pitches, and on a night when we needed to stay away from (Manny) Delcarmen and (Justin) Masterson, getting to where he got us was very helpful. I thought he pitched very well to give us seven innings and leave ahead — that should be good enough, and it was.”

Trailing, 3-2, in the sixth, the Sox batted around, sending 10 men to the plate, with Pedroia once again delivering the big hit.

Consecutive doubles from Jason Bay and Jed Lowrie tied the game at 3-3 and, after a groundout, a walk to Jeff Bailey and a single to center from Coco Crisp put the Sox ahead. They loaded the bases again with an infield single by Jacoby Ellsbury. Pedroia then greeted Dennis Sarfate with a sharp single to the opposite field, plating Bailey and Crisp.

“(Sarfate) comes in throwing 95 mph, probably off the plate away,” said Francona, “and Pedey’s going one way and the bat head’s going another and he hits a bullet to right. He just has an amazing knack for getting the barrel of the bat on the ball.”

The sixth-inning single — he would add another in the eighth — was his 184th of the season, breaking the club record for most hits in a season by a second baseman. The previous mark had been held by Del Pratt in 1922.

The two-hit night was his 54th multi-hit game of the season, tops in the American League, and gave him an astounding 15 hits in his last six games.

“The guys we have on this team, we’re all baseball players now,” said Pedroia. “We’re out here to win games. Nobody cares about their (individual) performance; it’s us.”

Javier Lopez handled a perfect eighth and Jonathan Papelbon nailed down his 35th save in the ninth.

The two teams had traded four solo homers in the early going, resulting in a 2-2 tie through five innings.

Adam Jones launched a rocket over everything in left with one out in the first and, after Jason Varitek and Bailey had produced back-to-back shots in the second, Juan Castro answered with a solo shot of his own with one out in the third.

The Orioles then strung together three hits and a sacrifice in the sixth to temporarily grab a one-run lead, with Nick Markakis’ single up the middle scoring Castro with the go-ahead run.

smcadam@projo.com