Pedroia: ‘My thumb was good'

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BOSTON -- Dustin Pedroia returned to the Red Sox lineup on Tuesday night for the first time since May 28. He wore a protective brace over his injured right thumb while hitting second and playing second base against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park.

Pedroia went hitless with a walk and an RBI sacrifice fly in the fifth inning that tied the game at 2-2.

Afterwards, he said he hopes to be out of the brace in a few weeks, and was already adjusting to it by the end of the night.

"My thumb was good," said Pedroia. "I've just got to get used to the guard and get my timing back a little bit. But other than that, I felt fine.

"I'm not used to it, but my last few at-bats I felt more comfortable, and I was seeing the ball better and my timing was better. So, I'll build on that, come out tomorrow, and try to do something to help us."

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine thought Pedroia looked healthy.

"They made some pretty darn good pitches on him, and a couple called strikes were tough on him," said Valentine. "But I think he was healthy, considering he hadn't had an at-bat in eight days. It was a pretty good performance. I thought he was on most of the pitches."

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