Red Sox Notes: Andrew Benintendi Shines; Alex Cora Shares Injury Updates

The Boston Red Sox offense has received loads of attention this season, and for good reason.

Mookie Betts continues to cement himself as one of the best all-around outfielders in Major League Baseball, while J.D. Martinez still is flirting with the Triple Crown over halfway through the season.

Often lost in the noise, though, is one of the Red Sox’s leading catalysts.

After a fairly slow start to the season, Andrew Benintendi has been a consistent force out of the two-hole in the Red Sox’s batting order. And through the first two games of Boston’s series against the Kansas City Royals, Benintendi has been a machine.

The 24-year-old recorded his second straight multi-hit game against the Royals on Saturday as part of the Red Sox’s 15-4 win in at Kauffman Stadium. Benintendi smacked his 14th home run of the season before stroking an RBI double, pushing his season RBI total to 55, good for second on the team behind Martinez.

But despite stepping up to the dish six times, Benintendi only got credit for two-at bats as the young outfielder drew four (!) walks in the contest. As such, Benintendi accounted for over a third of Boston’s runs scored Saturday as he crossed the plate four times to go along with his run-scoring knocks.

With his somewhat bizarre performance against the Royals in the middle game, Benintendi joined some impressive company.

Andrew Benintendi is 2 for 2 with four walks, a home run, a double, four runs scored and two RBIs.

His OPS went from .856 to .881

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) July 8, 2018

Not a bad day at the office.

Here are some other notes from Red Sox-Royals:

— David Price failed to bounce back against the Royals. The left-hander allowed four runs on six hits over just 4 2/3 innings. Price’s outing came to an end after he plunked three batters in the fifth, which tied an MLB record for most in one inning. Price had hit two batters total this season entering Saturday.

— Betts joined Benintendi with a productive night at the plate, going 4-for-6 with two doubles.

— Boston’s exciting win quickly was matched with less-than-stellar news, as Christian Vazquez appears set to hit the disabled list.

Christian Vazquez broke the pinky finger on his throwing hand sliding. Going on the DL. Swihart will back uo Leon. Corresponding move tomorrow. MRI for Vazquez on Monday will determine length of absence.

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) July 8, 2018

— Elsewhere on the injury front, Joe Kelly left the game in eighth after recording the first two outs of the inning. Luckily for Boston, it appears to have dodged a bullet.