Talking Points: Pedroia motors home

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The Red Sox came back to beat the Blue Jays, 7-6, on Saturday. Check out the game story here. Below are the Talking Points.

Batter of the Game: Jackie Bradley Jr.
Was there ever a doubt? Who cares that he was 1-for-32 before tying the game with an RBI double in the seventh?! Torey Lovullo stuck with this guy and he deserves credit for doing so. And Bradley deserves credit for keeping his head up despite the awful stretch he was in. Bradley's double was pure hustle, as the ball deflected off the diving Cliff Pennington at second base and trickled into the outfield, where Bradley turned on the jets. But it was his second hit of the game - the two-run homer in the 9th inning - that really quieted the 40,000 people at the Rogers Centre and got everybody in the Sox dugout fired up. That tied the game at four, and got the Sox offense rolling as they scored three more runs in the inning.

Starter's Report: Wade Miley might be a forgotten man in this one after the way the Red Sox played in the ninth inning, but he did put in another good outing despite running into some control problems. Miley left the game with two outs in the seventh inning of a 2-2 game. He allowed two runs on three hits but walked five. Miley struck out seven and threw 113 pitches.

R.A. Dickey found himself pitching against the Red Sox for the sixth time this season. Dickey pitched well but was pulled in the seventh inning when he allowed a leadoff double to Brock Holt. Dickey was at just 84 pitches when he was yanked, and the bullpen let him down as they allowed the inherited runner to score. Dickey's line: 6+ IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K.

Big Play: I mean . . . it's pretty obvious. Bradley fought back from an 0-2 count to even things up before blasting the fifth pitch of the at-bat into the upper deck in right field to tie the game in the ninth inning. It was reminiscent of the types of hits we saw out of Bradley for much of August, and the home run is at least a sign that August wasn't just some miracle month never to be repeated again. A home run doesn't single-handedly take a player out of a slump, but it can certainly do wonders on the mental side of things.

What I liked: Dustin Pedroia. It's just so obvious that he's treated this recovery from the hamstring injury the right way. Pedroia looks much more comfortable at the plate and it's showing with his production. He walked with two outs in the ninth to keep the Sox going. After advancing to second base on Xander Bogaerts' single, Pedroia motored around the bases on Ortiz's single to left field and made a great slide around Russell Martin to score. That type of aggression just doesn't happen if Pedroia isn't feeling good.

What I didn't like: It was a scary moment to watch Xander Bogaerts take flight over Chris Colabello as he tried to avoid his tag down the first base line. Colabello got a nice hip check in on Bogaerts as he attempted to avoid the tag and hit the ground hard. Luckily, Bogaerts was OK. Read about it and watch the clip right here.

What's next: The Red Sox will go with Rich Hill on Sunday in hopes that he can replicate the magical performance the 35-year-old put in during his last start when he pitched seven scoreless innings of one-hit baseball. It was Hill's first start since July 27, 2009. He'll go up against lefty Mark Buehrle.

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