CHICAGO — Dustin Pedroia’s road hitting streak came to an end at 29 games last night, but the Red Sox second baseman hardly seemed broken up by it.

“To be honest, ‘’ said Pedroia after going 0-for-4 in the Sox’ 5-1 win over the White Sox, “I don’t really care. I’ll take an 0-for-4 any day to get a win, especially now. There’s only 43 games left in the season.”

Pedroia’s streak had been the longest for a Red Sox player since Tris Speaker also had a 29-game run in 1913. The club record is also held by Speaker, who hit safely in 32 straight in 1912.

Only eight other major leaguers have longer road streaks in a single season. Ty Cobb holds the single-season mark with 39 games in 1917. Derek Jeter had a 44-game streak, but it played out over two seasons — from Aug. 20, 2006, through May 28, 2007.

Circling the bases

Charlie Zink will be the ninth different Red Sox starting pitcher this season. He’ll also be the 11th pitcher in franchise history to throw a knuckler as his primary pitch. This will also represent only the third time in team history that the Sox have had two knuckleballers on the same staff. Andy Karl and Dick Newsome (1943) and Hal Brown and Ben Flowers (1953) were the other tandems. According to Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram-Gazette, Zink will be the oldest Red Sox player (28) to make his major league debut since pitcher Dana Kiecker (29 years, 45 days) in 1990. … The five strikeouts recorded by Justin Masterson on Sunday were the most for a Red Sox reliever since Jonathan Papelbon struck out that many on Aug. 20, 2006. Masterson went into last night’s game with 10 strikeouts in his last 5 2/3 innings of relief. … Odd stat of the day: the Sox went into last night with a 13-3 record in one-run home games and were 2-16 in one-run road games. … The Sox are 7-3 in their last 10 road games. … Papelbon, pitching in a non-save situation in the ninth, appeared in a game for the first time since Wednesday.

smcadam@projo.com