Pedroia: Red Sox must eliminate distractions

BOSTON -- For Dustin Pedroia, a new week started with a new attitude -- one the Red Sox will have to keep if they want to fight back into contention.

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"We're worried about today's game. That's one thing that's going to start changing," said Pedroia. "We're not going to listen to [the media]. We're just going to go play baseball. That's it. We're going to try to be positive and we're going to play winning baseball. We're not going to care what anybody else says. We're going to care about our 25 guys and play together, and that's about it."

The Red Sox entered play on Monday 10 games below .500 and eight games out of first place in the American League East -- both season highs.

But if Pedroia could cover the standings up with a blanket, he would. He is no longer interested in thinking about what has happened to this point.

"Like I said, we're trying to play winning baseball and we're going to focus on that," said Pedroia. "The past is the past. We dug ourselves a hole. We're going to dig ourselves out of it. It starts with everybody together. It's not the manager, it's not the GM, it's not me, it's not David [Ortiz]. Everybody together is going to do that. We're going to do it together. We're the only ones that think we can, and the only way to do it is if we all believe it and do it ourselves."

Manager John Farrell held a team meeting earlier on Monday, and Pedroia clearly seemed to have an edge to him by the time the clubhouse opened to the media.

"Me personally, I've been around here long enough to know that when it's going good, everyone loves you, and when it's going bad, everyone hates you. It is what it is," Pedroia said. "For some of the guys that come around here, you start to think what people say about you, and that's not the reality. The reality is you show up to work every day and be yourself. What other people say doesn't dictate how I feel about them, and that's the only thing that matters. The 25 people are going to come together and we're going to play winning baseball."

In spite of everything that has happened over the first 10 weeks of the season, does Pedroia still think this group of 25 can turn the tide?

"Yeah, very confident -- and it starts with our guys," Pedroia said. "Eliminate the distractions and go play together. The only people that think we can do this are the 25 guys in there. I think we're going to kind of stop listening to the other nonsense and worry about playing winning baseball and today's game, play as hard as we can. Try to win. If we win, the next day, we'll worry about [that] game."

Pedroia chose not to get into specifics of what the Red Sox can do to play better as a unit.

"We're going to figure that out ourselves. It's not like, if I knew the answer to that, I'd tell you, because you're not one of the 25 guys," Pedroia told a reporter. "You know what I mean?"