It hasn't taken Bobby Valentine long to elicit emotion from Boston fans. He caused a stir on Sunday by questioning the commitment of Kevin Youkilis, a fan favorite. Valentine apologized to the third baseman on Monday, but not before backlash began to mound and Dustin Pedroia came to his teammate's defense. "I know that Youk plays as hard as anybody I've ever seen in my life," Pedroia said. "I have his back, and his teammates have his back. We know how hard he plays. I don't really understand what Bobby's trying to do. But that's really not the way we go about our stuff here. I'm sure he'll figure that out soon." Meanwhile, Valentine was booed at Fenway Park during Monday's game when he went back to the dugout after lifting starter Daniel Bard for reliever Justin Thomas following a run-scoring walk.