Franchy Cordero is hoping he put his early-season struggles to rest Thursday as the Boston Red Sox hosted the Detroit Tigers in the series finale at Fenway Park.
Cordero, who wasn't even in the lineup before Kiké Hernández was pulled in the first inning, put together arguably his best performance in a Red Sox uniform. And it helped Boston to a series-clinching win by a 12-9 verdict over the visiting Tigers.
"Obviously, I'm really happy I was just able to contribute in today's win, but I was ready whenever I had to be," Cordero said on a postgame video conference, through a translator.
The 26-year-old Dominican native entered Thursday's tilt with just nine hits, five RBIs, four runs and a .153 batting average this season. He hadn't recorded a hit in nine games and 20 at-bats. He was a woeful 1-for-36 in his previous 14 games heading into Thursday.
Fortunately for Cordero and the Red Sox, though, he now can put that in the rearview. Cordero was 3-for-5 with three runs and one RBI against the Tigers.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said it was good to see Cordero not just contribute, but smile. Cordero probably would agree.
"Yeah, obviously it was tough," Cordero said of his slump. "This is a hard game, if it was easy then everyone would be able to do it. But I just kept working. I was working hard with the coaches, spoke to a lot of guys, a lot of my teammates came up to me and would always try to give me some advice, as well.
"And coaches such as (Jason) Varitek, he came up to me and spoke to me about hitting. And just everyone," Cordero added. "It was a team effort in trying to get me right, and I was just happy I was able to have a good game today."
Cordero had not recorded three hits in a game with the Red Sox, and it was just his second multi-hit contest of the season. The first came more than a month ago against the Tampa Bay Rays.
And Cordero's plays were timely, too. Cordero put the ball in play during a four-run eighth inning and scored one of his three runs later in the frame as Alex Verdugo connected on a two-run hit to help the Red Sox create some separation.
"He made a nice play in left field, too," Cora said of Cordero. "It's not easy, hitting at this level is not easy. People think that he's not putting in work, but he's been putting in work."
Hopefully for both Cordero and the Red Sox that work will continue to pay off as Boston gets set to travel to the Baltimore Orioles for a four-game set starting Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
