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Alex Cora on ex-Boston Red Sox Andrew Benintendi: ‘We don’t win it without him’
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- Alex Cora on ex-Boston Red Sox Andrew Benintendi: ‘We don’t win it without him’
BOSTON — Andrew Benintendi homered in the eighth inning off Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman here Monday to cut the White Sox ' deficit to 4-2.
Before the game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora reflected on the left fielder's importance to the 2018 World Series championship team.
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"Honestly, we don't win it without him," Cora said before the final game of this four-game series . "That's the way I see it."
Benintendi signed a five-year, $75 million contract with Chicago in January 2023. The 30-year-old has batted just .245 with a .307 on-base percentage, .376 slugging percentage and .683 OPS in 299 games (1,192 plate appearances) for Chicago.
"It hasn't gone the way probably he thought it was gonna go," Cora said. "But at the end of the career, we're gonna go back and be like, 'He's a freaking good player, man.' He's good. I think he has become like a leader over there. Obviously they've been through a lot the last few years and in his own way I bet he's doing a good job over there."
The 2018 Red Sox posted a franchise-record 108 wins. Boston then went 11-3 in the postseason and beat the Dodgers in five games to win the World Series.
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Benintendi clinched Game 4 of the ALCS for Boston against Houston with his two-out diving catch in the ninth inning. Then- Astros star Alex Bregman's sinking liner with the bases loaded had a 79% hit probability but Benintendi grabbed it for the final out in an 8-6 win. If it had gotten past Benintendi, the Astros would have at least tied the game. All three runs might have scored.
Cora described Benintendi's personality as "very mellow."
"Very quiet with everybody, very polite, but at 7:05 that kid transforms to something different," Cora said. "Hitting second in that lineup was very important for us. Defensively, you know what he did. That play against Alex, that was amazing. The play close to the wall in the World Series. The way he ran the bases was huge for us. We talk about the changes he made going into '19, trying to do probably a little bit more than he needed. But overall a good freaking player."
