Sandoval's personal milestones aren't helping Red Sox

Share

BOSTON -- Pablo Sandoval's return to the lineup certainly isn't translating to wins, but the Sox third-baseman is looking better at the plate recently.

And now he has another milestone to add to his resume.

Sandoval recorded his 1,000th career hit, a double in the ninth inning, in Monday's 4-2 loss to the Braves.

It was the second hit of the night, which made it his third straight multi-hit game, and sixth straight game with a hit. Sandoval is batting .387 over his last eight games since he sat for two straight. In that span he's hit four doubles, a triple, a home run and had six RBI.

Sandoval was proud of reaching the milestone after the game, saying that it means a lot in his career.

"Have to keep working hard to get to that point," Sandoval said. "Don't stop, try to do the same things that I keep doing every single day. Go tough and play hard every single day."

But he couldn't really celebrate much. After all, the team lost its seventh straight game on Monday. And Sandoval has only played in two wins since May 28.

The Sox haven't won much lately, but when they have, Sandoval has rarely been on either the run-producing end or run-scoring end. Some of his hits have led to runs, like his hit off the wall in the Sox comeback win against the A's on June 7 (which is also their most recent win), but in terms of actually driving in a run or scoring a run during a win, he's been relatively missing in action.

In fact, he hasn't scored or driven in a run in the last seven Red Sox wins, and eight of their last nine wins dating back to May 19. On the season, he's contributed with a run or RBI in 10 of the 27 wins, but six of those games came back in April.

So while it's nice for Sandoval to crack his 1,000th career hit, not many of those have benefited the Sox this season.

Contact Us