PEDROIA

BOSTON — When his Chicago White Sox finally retired the Red Sox’ red-hot, pint-sized power-hitter, Dustin Pedroia, in the third inning, manager Ozzie Guillen called for the baseball. It was tossed to him in the dugout, where he waved it triumphantly over his head and then gestured flamboyantly — and good-naturedly — toward Pedroia, indicating he wanted him to autograph it. After the White Sox again retired Pedroia with two outs in the ninth, runners at second and third, and the Red Sox two runs behind, Guillen should have considered sending that ball to the Hall of Fame.

It was mildly surprising that the White Sox pitched to Pedey in that situation, and downright shocking that they got him out — on a soft fly ball to left field. That was something Chicago pitchers hadn’t done in Pedroia’s first 11 trips to the plate in the three-game series.

He was 4-for-4, with a walk, in Boston’s 8-0 romp Friday night; again went 4-for-4, plus a walk, in Saturday night’s 8-2 Red Sox rout; and then blooped a single just inside the right-field line in his first at-bat yesterday afternoon.

“The kid had an unbelievable weekend,” Guillen said afterward in his small office in the visiting team’s clubhouse.

The way Pedroia’s been hitting (he’s batting .326 and leads the American League in hits with 183), it was hard to believe the White Sox were able to get him out — especially with the game on the line in the ninth. “The last person you want to see out there is him,” Guillen said. “He puts you under a lot of pressure. He’s the type of player that keeps coming and coming.” Guillen is the type of manager who tries to relieve the pressure on his players — who are battling the Twins for the lead in the A.L. Central — with light-hearted hijinks such as the ball-waving incident.

“I started laughing,” Pedroia said when asked his reaction to Guillen’s antics. “Ozzie’s great. He’s great for the game. He keeps them relaxed. He just wants them to play hard.”

Guillen thinks Pedroia’s great, too. And what he really wants is for his players — and everybody else in the major leagues — to play as hard as Boston’s scrappy second baseman. “I have fun with him,” said Guillen, who was an All-Star shortstop during his playing days with the White Sox from 1985 through ’97 and, like Pedroia, was the American League’s Rookie of the Year.

“I’m a big Pedroia fan. I love the way he plays. If 90 percent of players played the way he plays, I would pay for a ticket to watch baseball. “It’s not all home runs and power pitching,” Guillen continued. “The way he plays, this kid — that’s the way people should be playing every day.

“I admire him because of his size. He’s got a heart bigger than anybody in this league. It’s fun, to watch people play like that. Baseball needs players like that — real baseball players. He’s intense, he’s a hard worker, but he also has fun.

“(Terry) Francona watches him every day, so he might think he’s even better than I do. I’ve watched him for nine games and I think he’s unbelievable.”

After a rookie year that bordered on the unbelievable —he hit .317 with 39 doubles — Pedroia has played even better this season.

Sophomore slump? No way. He’s been a sophomore sensation, instead. Pedroia takes a big cut for a little (he’s listed at 5-foot-9, but there’s no way he’s taller than 5-8 — if that) guy. Which is why, with a distressing number of his teammates ailing, he hit in the cleanup spot yesterday for the second straight game. His 15 homers were second only to David “Big Papi” Ortiz’s 17 among Boston batters yesterday, and 8 more than the next-closest player, leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury, has.

Third baseman Mike Lowell — who was the World Series MVP, shortstop Julio Lugo, and right fielder J.D. Drew all are on the disabled list. First baseman Kevin Youkilis was out with flu-like symptoms, while Kevin Cash replaced Jason Varitek behind the plate, as he always does when knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is the starting pitcher.

That left the Sox with rookie Jed Lowrie, who, after going 0-for-5 yesterday is just 8-for-48 in his last 12 games, at third base, and utility infielder Alex Cora (.224 in his last 50 games going into yesterday) at shortstop. Jeff Bailey, 29, but with only seven days of major-league experience before this season, was at first base after being recently called up from Pawtucket. Cash is batting just .229, but that’s 62 points above his career average coming into this year. Left fielder Jason Bay and right fielder Mark Kotsay are recent additions to the club.

In the ninth, Francona turned to Jonathan Van Every — just up from Pawtucket and playing in only his second big-league game — as a pinch-hitter. He took a called third strike.

If you looked up the definition of “patchwork lineup” in the baseball dictionary, you’d see a picture of Francona’s lineup card from yesterday afternoon. Yet, thanks in large part to the diminutive Pedroia, the Sox were able to take two of three from the White Sox, and have won 8 of their last 12 heading into the first of a three-game series with the Orioles tonight.

jdonalds@projo.com