David Robertson retires Dustin Pedroia, avoids David Ortiz

BOSTON -- With David Ortiz on deck, David Robertson looked at Dustin Pedroia as the out he had to have.

Robertson, coming off a brutal outing Tuesday night in Arlington, Texas, in which he allowed two runs, two hits and three walks in the ninth inning of a 12-11 victory over the Rangers, started the ninth Saturday with not as much room for error, a two-run cushion.

He retired Jackie Bradley Jr. and Christian Vazquez before Brock Holt singled. Pedroia was next, followed by Ortiz and Yoenis Cespedes, two power hitters Robertson wanted no part of.

He got Pedroia to bounce out to Chase Headley at third, with Mark Teixeira making a nice scoop on a throw in the dirt, and earned his 28th save in 30 chances.

"He's a dangerous hitter,'' Robertson said of Pedroia. "I don't want to face Ortiz, either. I'm just thinking I've got to get somebody out. I sure don't want him to hit a home run.''

Did Robertson need this kind of outing after what happened in Texas? "Let's forget that one even happened,'' he said with a smile. "That's the worst I've pitched and still had a positive outcome. I know what I'm capable of doing. I just have to go out there and do it.''

Jeter: Oops

Derek Jeter committed a rare baserunning mistake in the first inning, getting doubled off first on Jacoby Ellsbury's fly ball to shallow center.

"Initially he broke back and I was kind of in no-man's land,'' Jeter said. "If it falls in front of him, I don't want to get thrown out at second, but he caught it. I thought initially it was going to drop, and obviously I was wrong.''

Not much room for Ichiro

Girardi didn't outright say that Ichiro Suzuki's playing time will be next to nil after the acquisition of Martin Prado, but he certainly came close.

"You're kind of going to go day by day, but we acquired Prado to play a lot,'' Girardi said.

Bringing in Prado also lessens the importance of getting Carlos Beltran back in the field. Beltran, battling a bone spur in his right elbow, has been throwing lightly in the outfield in the last week but is not considered close to being ready to return to the field.

"It's less [urgent] that we need him out there,'' Girardi said, adding that Beltran still will continue his throwing program. He continues to serve as the designated hitter.

Start the clock

Michael Pineda's 30-day rehab clock starts Sunday with his planned outing of 60 to 65 pitches with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

"The important thing is he builds up and he comes out of it healthy,'' Girardi said. "You get 60, 65 pitches [Sunday] and you figure five days later you get close to 80, [then] you're starting to get pretty close [to a return]. The big thing is he responds and physically feels good. This is further than he was before, so it makes you think his injury has healed.''