Dalbec, Cordero starting to produce at first base for Red Sox

Franchy Cordero, right, was 2 for 4 with a solo home run and a two-run double in the Red Sox’ 12-2 win over Baltimore on Sunday at Fenway Park. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

BOSTON — For most of the year, first base has been the darkest position on the diamond for the Boston Red Sox.

With Bobby Dalbec and Travis Shaw handling the responsibilities in April, and Franchy Cordero doing a lot of the work in May, the club entered Sunday ranked 29th in the major leagues with a .554 OPS from the position.

Then the unthinkable happened: both Dalbec and Cordero hit towering home runs in the same inning.

The first basemen stole the show on Sunday, as the Sox totaled five homers in a 12-2 stampede over the Orioles.

“Not all the time it’s going to be Raffy (Devers), J.D. (Martinez) and Xander (Bogaerts),” said Red Sox Manager Alex Cora. “Everybody else has to do their part. Christian (Arroyo) had an outstanding game to start off with a double. Jackie (Bradley Jr.) doing his thing. Franchy. Bobby had better at-bats the last few days. We believe they’re going to contribute. Now they’re doing the work and doing an outstanding job.”

Dalbec started things off with a two-run blast over the Green Monster in the second inning to give Nick Pivetta an early 2-0 lead. Dalbec hasn’t been playing a whole lot lately, but got the start against the left-handed Bruce Zimmermann on Sunday and didn’t disappoint. He also homered to push the Sox ahead in their 5-3 win in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader. He has three homers this season.

“I’ve been working hard so it’s nice to get some things going,” Dalbec said. “I just think my body is in the right spot, and in the right spot at the right time.”

Two batters after Dalbec homered, Cordero demolished one to center field that traveled an estimated 448 feet, the longest home run hit by anyone on the Red Sox this season. Cordero has looked like the player the Sox hoped he’d be when they acquired him from the Royals as part of the Andrew Benintendi deal last year. He added a two-run double later in the game and is now hitting .282 with 12 RBI in 25 games for the Sox this year.

“A lot of confidence,” Cora said of Cordero. “It’s not that he’s trying to fit in or trying to do this to survive at this level. It’s like, yeah he knows he’s going to play. It started with plate discipline, when he got here with his walks and expanding the zone, and little by little, he’s hitting the ball hard, most of the time it’s solid contact and when he hits it in the air that’s going to happen. The one he hit opposite field the other day (at Fenway Park), that’s a homer somewhere else. … You can see the athlete finally coming out and doing his thing.”

Up and down the roster, the Red Sox are starting to see production from areas they were previously getting very little. Catcher is one of those positions.

Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles Sunday and is now hitting .462 with 12 RBI in his last 11 games. He’s hitting .357 in May.

“Line-drives up the middle and no empty fly balls to right field,” Cora said. “One thing about him is he doesn’t swing and miss. Sometimes he gets big in certain counts, 2-0 or 3-1. But it seems like he has made a conscious effort of working the count and staying short to the baseball. He’s hitting a lot of low line-drives over the shortstop, over the second baseman.”

The Red Sox have a handful of core players eligible for free agency after this season, and Vazquez is one of them. With 606 career starts, he’s seventh all-time in franchise history. He played on Sunday despite feeling some tightness in his groin, which caused him to exit after just six innings.

“Physically he works hard,” Cora said. “He prepares to play as many games as possible. He’s always willing to catch. There are no excuses with him. He’s a guy who posts. He wants to play. And I think offensively he has been really good.”

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