Pedroia, Aceves downplay dugout dispute

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What happened exactly? That was difficult to ascertain because Aceves and Pedroia both chose to say little about it, and manager Bobby Valentine didn’t share much more.

“I’m not sure it was a big flare-up,” Valentine said. “It was about positioning. Dustin said when he gets the sign he moves and Alfredo wanted to move him on his own. It’s Alfredo being Alfredo and Dustin being a baseball player.”

After Aceves pitched the fourth inning, he and Pedroia were caught on camera in a heated discussion, one that required the intervention of third-base coach Jerry Royster. Valentine tried to intercede but Aceves waved him away.

Aceves had made a few pickoff throws to second, and they seemed to catch Pedroia off guard, because he was not on the bag when the throws came.

In the clubhouse after the game, Pedroia was tight-lipped about the incident when reporters questioned him.

“That’s none of your guys’ business,” he said. “It’s between teammates.”

Aceves tersely refused to concede that he was even upset with Pedroia.

“You are saying I’m upset,” he responded to a reporter. “I wasn’t upset.”

When he was asked what was going on, Aceves said: “It was things about our team. It was something that we have to communicate between us. But that’s between us. It’s part of the game.”