The Boston Red Sox are on the heels of a 3-game winning streak for the first time this month. Unfortunately, the team might be heading towards another streak of a different kind. Still stuck at the bottom of the AL East, the Sox could face their third straight year without a postseason. With their fate to be decided as summer unfolds, Bobby V and company should be bracing for a marathon not a sprint. So why are they taking foolish risks with Dustin Pedroia?

Tuesday's 7-5 win over the Miami Marlins meant that a mercifully long homestand (9 games) got off on the right foot. Pedroia's performance was the sort of thing the Red Sox were hoping for when they decided to keep him off the DL at the beginning of the month. The homestand opener saw Pedroia go 1-for-3, hitting a double in the bottom of the first while helping to turn in a double-play in the top of the third and a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the fifth.

Nevertheless, by the time Pedroia made his way into clubhouse after an early exit, shaking his hand in pain, I probably wasn't the only Red Sox fan who was unsurprised. With the season essentially stuck in the mud, management had figured it was too costly to have Pedroia sit out on a lengthy DL stint despite a torn adductor muscle in his right thumb. The deep slump that followed shouldn't have had anyone scratching their heads.

The Red Sox didn't get much for their gamble. Over the course of the 13 games he's played this month since returning from that initial thumb injury, he's hit .170 and has a .237 OBP while his slugging percentage is .226 and his OPS for June stands at .463. It's worth remembering that Pedroia went 2-for-14 in Chicago. That his BA for the season is .269 right now, still above Adrian Gonzalez's .257, just shows what how important a healthy Pedroia has been for this team.

With Will Middlebrooks as reliable as ever, and the apparent inevitability of a Kevin Youkilis trade, the Red Sox look like they'll have a chance to mix things up and stay competitive as the season starts to reach the halfway point. The first playoff berth since 2009 is hardly a stretch, but they'll need Pedroia at 100% make it happen, and right now he's clearly not healthy.

Bobby V has said that the thumb is a "nonissue" and that "there's no swelling." But it's clear that the thumb has affected Pedroia's swing, if only because he's worried about jamming it all over again. While Valentine seemed to dismiss the concerns of spooked fans on Tuesday, here's hoping he realizes that Pedroia needs recovery time on the DL to make the thumb a "nonissue."

Taurus Londono has lived in Massachusetts for over ten years. He is a longtime fan of the Boston Red Sox.

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Red Sox Shouldn't Gamble with Pedroia: Fan Take