Pedroia's consecutive hits streak falls 1 short of MLB record

With a shot at history on the line, Dustin Pedroia grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Boston Red Sox second baseman stepped to the plate in the eighth inning of Saturday's game with the Kansas City Royals needing one hit to tie the major-league record with a hit in 12-straight at-bats. Instead, he smacked a ground ball to second baseman Christian Colon to fall short.

Three players in history share the record (Johnny Kling, Pinky Higgins, and Walt Dropo), and no one's reached the mark since Dropo did in 1952.

Pedroia began his streak Thursday in Tampa Bay after going 3-for-5. He went 4-for-4 in the series opener against the Royals on Friday and went 4-for-4 in Saturday's game prior to the ground out.

"You're a little tired getting on base a lot," Pedroia told reporters. "You hit hot streaks throughout the year. You've got to ride them as much as you can.

"I don't know. It's baseball. It's a crazy game. We've faced some pretty good pitchers. It's just one of those things. You're locked in. The guys I've faced, those guys are really tough, so you just have hot streaks."

The four-time All-Star finished the night 4-for-5 with two RBIs and is hitting .765 over his last four games.

"That's special," Price said. "Whenever your name is up there with guys in black and white photos, that's pretty special."