Not defending Pedro, but not guarding the line made sense in that scenario.
There were two outs, single ties the game with the runner on second.
If the runner was on first, I'm with you. If there were less than two outs and nobody on, to prevent a big inning and the tying run to reach second, I'm with you. In the actual scenario, I want the players positioned to get the final out at first and go home.
Steve Stone said the positioning was correct. James Fegan said the positioning was correct. I thought the same thing before and after reading the angst here.