BOSTON — The Andrew Benintendi trade won the Red Sox a game on Monday night.
Josh Winckowski earned his second straight win out of the Sox’ rotation while Franchy Cordero had a three-hit night and a sensational play on defense to lead the Sox to a 5-2 win over the lowly Detroit Tigers.
Cordero and Winckowski were the centerpieces of a trade that sent Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals prior to the 2021 season.
The takeaways:
1. Cordero needed this.
May was Cordero’s month as the 27-year-old native of the Dominican Republic hit .274 with an .803 OPS and essentially stole Bobby Dalbec’s job as the primary first baseman.
But Cordero has struggled since. He entered Monday without a multi-hit game since May 29, hitting .130 with a .452 OPS in 17 games in that span.
Still getting everyday at-bats while Kiké Hernandez is on the injured list, Cordero finally had a huge game, driving in two runs on a single in the fifth and collecting three hits in total, including his ninth double of the season.
But the play to remember came in the third inning, when the Tigers were threatening with the score tied, 1-1. Robbie Grossman smoked a line drive to first base, where Cordero made a diving catch, then turned around and tagged Tucker Barnhart for an unassisted, inning-ending double play.
As the Aug. 2 trading deadline starts to get closer, the Red Sox will need to decide where to go at first base. There’s a long ways till then, but Cordero will need many more nights like this to prove himself worthy of playing time in the second half.
2. Winckowski shines again.
Let’s get this out of the way: the Tigers aren’t very good.
They have just one player, future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, who has an on-base percentage over .300 or an OPS over .600. They rank dead last in baseball with 2.9 runs per game on offense. This team is struggling.
Still, to see Winckowski pounding the strike zone with sinkers and sliders and letting his defense do the work. He struck out only two batters but his efficiency was appreciated as he lasted a remarkable 6-2/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. He threw 92 pitches, higher than his 80-pitch high during his time with Triple-A Worcester.
In his two starts since getting called up last week, Winckowski has gone 12-2/3 innings while allowing just two runs.
The 23-year-old was the key prospect in the trade that sent Benintendi to Kansas City.
Benintendi, by the way, has seen his average dip from .373 at the end of April down to .295 entering Monday.
3. Houck gets his fifth save.
Pitching on his third consecutive day, Tanner Houck was called on for the ninth inning and made it quick.
The starter-turned-closer had no trouble retiring the Tigers in the ninth, nearly finishing Eric Haase on a nasty sinker, though Christian Vazquez couldn’t hang on. His next pitch was a bending slider that Haase lifted to left field for a lazy flyball and the final out of the game.
Houck now has five saves in five chances and has allowed just one run in 10-2/3 innings since he began throwing shorter outings.
The Red Sox are 6-2 in their last eight games and are a season-high six games over .500. They’re 14-4 in June.
