Rare finish for Pedroia

 Dustin Pedroia hasn’t settled for second place in too many statistical categories during an MVP-worthy campaign, but it looks like Pedey will have to settle for second in the AL batting race.

Pedroia started yesterday afternoon five batting average points behind Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer and needed some assistance, but the 25-year-old second sacker didn’t end up getting much.

Pedroia collected two hits to boost his average up to .326, but Mauer also went 2-for-5 and finished with a .330 batting average.

If the White Sox win a makeup game today, Mauer will have a one-game-playoff’s worth of at-bats tomorrow, but it’s nigh impossible that the Twins backstop’s batting average will drop four points in one game (Mauer would have to go 0-for-7 for Pedroia to win the title outright).

Batting title or no batting title, Pedroia was focused on getting his squad ready for its impending playoff date with the Angels.

Was he aware of how close the batting race was?

“Not really,” said Pedroia, who managed to keep a straight face while saying it. “After getting that second hit, I’m going to tip the grounds crew, man, because that was a great hop.

“I’m not real big into personal achievements like that. As long as I had a good season, whether I finish second, third or whatever … that’s fine.”

Instead, Pedroia will have to take solace in leading the American League by a wide margin with 118 runs and tying Ichiro Suzuki for the major-league lead with 213 hits. Not too shabby for a guy who should hear more than a few MVP chants during the Sox’ postseason run.