A ground ball by Boston’s Kevin Youkilis skips past New York’s Robinson Cano (24) and Derek Jeter for a base hit last night.

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — Almost lost in all the excitement over the weekend series with the Yankees was the play of Red Sox rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

He made sure to make himself known in the final game of the three-game set last night at Fenway Park.

With his base-clearing wall-ball double to tie the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning, Pedroia extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games while raising his average over 70 points during that stretch. Pedroia struggled to start the season, but he’s shown the maturity to battle through the adversity and is now playing the type of baseball the organization believed he could play.

“I try not to think about it,” said Pedroia. “I’m a firm believer in when you’re not going well [that] that shows what type of person you are. Anyone can get three hits and act like it’s the greatest day of your life, so it shows a lot about a person who is struggling, how they act.”

Red Sox manager Terry Francona has said from Day One that patience would be a virtue for Pedroia, the club and its fans when asked about the rookie’s early struggles. But, because of his strong work ethic and positive attitude, Pedroia is proving he’s a commodity.

“We’ve got a young player who the organization said can do these sorts of things,” said Francona. “We didn’t see it at the major-league level. We didn’t see it last September and we didn’t’ see it in spring training. But people in the organization said this is what the kid can do, and he’s doing it. For me not to be patient enough to see it [play out] would have been a very bad mistake.”

Francona was asked when it was that he noticed Pedroia had finally turned the corner.

“I don’t think you can push a button,” said the manager. “It’s a process of a lot of hard work. When he was struggling, he didn’t put his head down. He’s got that fighter mentality. He goes to the cage every day and has had a lot of long sessions with (hitting coach Dave Magadan). He could do it in the cage, but he was having a difficult time taking it to the field and it started translating it to the game.”

It’s different now.

“You can see him getting a little more confident, which he should,” added Francona.

Drew due back soon

J.D. Drew was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game with hamstring issues last night, but Francona said he expects the right fielder to be back today when the team travels to Oakland.

“He’s doing much better today,” said Francona. “He went through some series of exercises and we’re pretty hopeful he’ll play right field tomorrow. That would really help us.”

Francona said the team’s medical staff was really “upbeat” about Drew’s condition today. Drew was taken out of Friday’s game against the Yankees and said he’s been feeling the tenderness for over a week in his hamstring where it connects to his right knee.

Around the bases

The Pawtucket Red Sox had their game against the Norfolk Tides yesterday postponed due to inclement weather. As a result, Red Sox pitchers Jon Lester and Mike Timlin had to wait until today to continue their rehabs. Lester will start the first game of today’s doubleheader and Timlin is expected to start the second game and work two innings. … The Red Sox traveled to Oakland after last night’s game. But the team sent starters Julian Tavarez and Daisuke Matsuzaka to the West Coast yesterday afternoon. … Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell did not work last night in order to attend his son’s graduation. The Sox’ minor-league pitching coordinator Ralph Treuel stepped in to replace Farrell for the night. … Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell proved once again he’s hard-nosed. In the top of the fifth inning, the Yankees’ Josh Phelps hit a chopper in the hole that Lowell was able to get a glove on. However, he rolled over on his glove hand, the same one he was hit by a pitch on during Friday’s game. He was clearly experiencing some discomfort, so starter Josh Beckett called a mound meeting just to give Lowell some time to catch his breath.

Delayed Rocket launch

The Yankees are hoping a clean bill of health on Roger Clemens can get the veteran free agent into the rotation sometime this week, most likely Saturday at home against Pittsburgh. Clemens will have an MRI taken of his groin area today.

“We’ll see whether whatever he’s dealing with is old or new,” said Torre. “We’ve had a habit of never counting our chickens until they show up. We really never got to the point of feeling he was here.”

Torre said the Yanks won’t pitch Clemens until he’s clearly ready to go.

“I don’t want it to be ‘Well, I can pitch with this.’ We want him out there every five days,” said Torre.

Tough break

Doug Mientkiewicz left Massachusetts’s General Hospital and was driven home to New York by his wife yesterday. He left still feeling woozy from the violent collision with Lowell’s thigh on a play at first base on Saturday. Mientkiewicz suffered a mild concussion and a sore neck but the biggest issue is a broken wrist. Torre wouldn’t speculate, but his first baseman could miss anywhere from six to eight weeks.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he played again this year,” he said. “I would be surprised if he didn’t.”

Mientkiewicz has struggled at the plate (.226) but is a top defensive player and someone the Yankees will sorely miss, especially with Jason Giambi also out.

“I call him Pigpen. He grunts,” said Torre. “He grinds, and we’ll miss that with the type of stuff we’ve been going through.”

No word on what the Yankees will do once they place Mientkiewicz on the disabled list today. The Yanks could reach into the minors and promote Andy Phillips, a versatile player who is off to a strong start at Triple-A Scranton.

kmcnamar@projo.com