MLB Notebook: Red Sox offense shows a pulse after flatlining, Criswell stays in the zone, Winckowski demoted & injury updates

"We've been trying to make the adjustment,” Devers told reporters through a team interpreter. “We know we haven't been able to bring a lot of runs in but, that's baseball and today was a different story."

The Sox managed only six hits in the game, and two of them from Devers, who Alex Cora dropped to the cleanup spot, but on the bright side… three of ‘em went for extra bases, including a Jarren Duran double in the fifth and a Wilyer Abreu homer in the third.

The win snapped a three-game skid and marked just the second time in eight games that the Sox plated more than two runs in a single ballgame (a stretch during which they posted a 2-6 record). 

We’ll take the return of a little pop at — and granted it was a little pop, not a lot — as a sign that Boston’s bats are on the verge of breaking out of their slump. 

“It feels good, that one,” said Cora, who credited the team’s bounce back in part to splitting up Duran and Devers in the lineup. “You think about it during the week and you see what’s going on and you’re like ‘Oh shoot, this might work.’ And it happened.” 

Criswell’s career day 

Not to be lost in the shuffle is another encouraging start from Cooper Criswell, who set a new personal best with a nine-strikeout performance in Saturday's win. 

The right-hander didn’t get the win after tossing just five innings of two-run ball — he gave up three hits, and two were solo homers — but he continued a trend of stringing good outings together, and the team is 5-0 in games he’s started.

“It’s a cool stat, you know, but I feel like you don’t want to look too far into that,” Criswell said postgame. “Anytime you get the ball you just want to go out there and give the team the best chance to win, and luckily in those five games we’ve been able to do that.” 

Over his last three starts, Criswell has allowed only three runs while striking out 21 over 19 1/3 innings.

“(I’m) just thankful for the opportunities,” Criswell added. “Trying to make the most of ‘em.”

Winckowski to Worcester 

Once considered a potential member of the ‘24 rotation, Josh Winckowski is now reportedly headed to Worcester in an unpredicted move to clear the way for Brayan Bello’s return from a 15-day injured list stint with a lat injury.

It’s a bit of a head-scratcher given that the 25-year-old righty hasn’t been bad this season, going 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA while totaling 19 strikeouts across 24 1/3 innings. He’s appeared in 12 games overall this season, starting just three. 

What’s even weirder is that Winckowski has done his best pitching as a starter this season. In those three starts, he’s posted a 1.69 ERA and a 0.938 WHIP across 10.2 innings. When he’s come out of the bullpen, his ERA bloats to 4.61 with a 2.049 WHIP. 

As Boston once viewed WInckowski as a hopeful starter, the move would be logical if the plan was to stretch him out to serve exclusively as a starter in his stint with the WooSox — just as the team did with Criswell early on, and now they’re reaping the rewards.

Bello, meanwhile, will take the mound in hopes of helping the Sox avoid a series loss on Sunday afternoon. 

Yoshida avoids surgery

Finally, something that’s broken the Red Sox’s in the never-ending pile of injury updates this season…

While the Sox won’t be getting designated hitter Masataka Yoshida back for a number of weeks yet, we did learn that he will not require surgery on his sprained left thumb after receiving a third opinion. 

“That's good news,” Cora said. “Now we’ve just got to wait. Obviously treatment, and see how he feels in a few weeks. We go from there. No baseball activities, I mean, no swinging. At least we know at one point he's going to be available and he's going to be able to help us.’”

Yoshida had just started to heat up a bit when he went on the shelf with the injury, going 5 for 7 with an RBI and three runs scored in his most recent two games on April 27-28. As usual, he hasn’t done much in the way of power and production on the season, but he’s proven in his two MLB seasons that he’s a dependable hitter for average. Right now, the Sox will take all of those guys they can get… 

In other injury-related news, Garrett Whitlock is scheduled to make a rehab start on Wednesday in Worcester as he works his way back from a left oblique strain. According to MLB.com, Whitlock could be on track to return when Boston travels to face Tampa Bay for a three-game set May 20-22.

Also, right-handed reliever Isaiah Campbell is continuing to progress after tossing a pair of innings in the bullpen on Friday. He’s not quite ready to jump back into the fold, but it’s an encouraging progression as the key bullpen arm recovers from his right shoulder impingement.