BOSTON — Even on a day when he did not get any hits, Dustin Pedroia showed why he is a serious candidate for American League MVP.

One day after he put his name in the Red Sox record books with 200 hits and 50 doubles, the diminutive second baseman yesterday showed he can do other work to help the Red Sox win games. In this case, it was bunting and playing defense.

Pedroia began the day leading the league in hitting at .329. When he came up in the bottom of the first, his team was behind Toronto, 1-0. The Blue Jays had their ace, Roy Halladay, on the mound.

Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single up the middle. On the first pitch to Pedroia, Ellsbury stole second. Pedroia looked to third-base coach DeMarlo Hale for a sign before the next pitch

“One of the signs was to get him over,” he said.

The Sox sometimes do not specifically ask a player to bunt but instead tell him to do whatever he feels best to advance a runner. Pedroia did not think it was a good time to try to hit to the right side.

“It’s kind of hard to hit Roy Halladay the other way when he’s throwing 95-mile-an-hour sinkers inside,” he said. “The easier way to get him over was to bunt him over. So I just bunted him over.” Ellsbury scored on Kevin Youkilis’ two-out single.

In the ninth, Jason Bay made what might have been a game-saving play when he fielded a Lyle Overbay wall ball and fired to second. It was a close play. Replays indicated Overbay appeared to get his hand in on time and was safe. However, as Boston manager Terry Francona pointed out, Pedroia made a nice catch and quick tag, helping “sell” the out. Umpire Doug Eddings called Overbay out and the Sox hung on for a 4-3 victory.

Pedroia joined elite company when he had both his 50th double and 200th hit Saturday.

He became only the third Red Sox played ever to do that, joining Tris Speaker in 1912 and Wade Boggs in 1989. He also is the 11th second baseman to do it in major-league history. The first was Rhode Islanders Nap Lajoie in 1910, the last former Sox farm hand Freddy Sanchez two years ago.

Francona, who often kids with Pedroia, lavished serious praise on the MVP candidate, speaking about how he can hit so many pitches and use the entire field.

“He has the ability to put the barrel of the bat on the ball maybe better than anyone in baseball,” Francona said.

Around the bases

Ellsbury stole second in the first inning, helping set up Boston’s first run. Since Aug. 19, the Red Sox have been successful in 22 of their last 26 steal attempts. The Sox are third in the American League with 114 steals. That ties for the second-highest total in 91 years. The Sox had 116 in 1934 and also had 114 in 1973. . . Red Sox brass plans to meet today to talk about how to use Bartolo Colon for the rest of the season. Francona did not rule out the possibility of Colon pitching out of the bullpen. . . Jon Lester went eight innings and now has gone at least 7 in 13 of his last 17 starts. He is 13-1 for his career against A.L. East opponents. . . David Ortiz’s triple in the eighth was the 13th of his career and first since Aug. 21, 2007, at Tampa Bay. . . Jonathan Papelbon hung on for his 38th save, passing his previous record of 37, set last year. . .

Mike Lowell, for one, sees no pressing need to prove anything to Tampa Bay in the series that begins tonight. The Sox have yet to win in Florida this season. “We want to win there, but I don’t think it’s the be all and end all,” he said. “It’ll be a fun series,” Lester said. “We always get a lot of fans down there so it’ll kind of be like a home playoff atmosphere.”

pkenyon@projo.com