BOSTON -- One night after nearly tying the major league record for consecutive at-bats with a hit, Dustin Pedroia will miss the Boston Red Sox's series finale against the Kansas City Royals on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.
Pedroia took leave of the team Sunday morning to attend funeral services for a family member. He's expected to rejoin the Red Sox midway through Monday night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.
"Based on his text, he's envisioning a walk-off hit in the ninth," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Much like Pedey fashion, that was his departing text this morning."
A player must miss a minimum of three games to be placed on the bereavement list, so Farrell said the Red Sox will simply play one man short Sunday night and for the first few innings Monday night.
Save perhaps for New York Yankees rookie phenom Gary Sanchez, there isn't a hotter hitter in baseball than Pedroia, who had his streak of 11 consecutive at-bats with a hit snapped in the eighth inning of Saturday night's 8-3 victory over the Royals (the major league record is 12). Pedroia also had reached base safely in 12 straight plate appearances and raised his batting average to .320, second in the American League behind Houston's Jose Altuve entering play Sunday.
Pedroia's surge coincides with his move into the leadoff spot. He's 33-for-72 (.458) with four walks and a .481 on-base percentage since the shift from his usual No. 2 spot to the top of the order, a move designed to get Mookie Betts into a run-producing, middle-of-the-order position behind fellow MVP candidate David Ortiz.
In Pedroia's absence, utility man Brock Holt will start at second base Sunday night.