NEW YORK -- There was an element of surprise at the Winter Meetings back in December when Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced he was flip-flopping Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi in the 1-2 spots in the batting order despite a formula that helped the team win 108 games and

NEW YORK -- There was an element of surprise at the Winter Meetings back in December when Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced he was flip-flopping Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi in the 1-2 spots in the batting order despite a formula that helped the team win 108 games and a World Series last season.

On Saturday, prior to Boston's game at Yankee Stadium, Cora announced he was going back to how it was in 2018.

Betts, who won the American League's Most Valuable Player Award last season while making all of his starts in the leadoff spot, will go back to that spot for the rest of 2019. Benintendi will be the No. 2 hitter.

"I think we're going to roll with this now," said Cora. "There's certain things you take into consideration. We talk about at-bats with men on and all that, but there's another part of the equation that numbers don't show as far as what you can do or you cannot do with certain orders.

"This morning I got up and said, 'This is how we're going to roll.' I just talked to Mookie and I said, 'You're going to lead off the rest of the season.' That's what we're going to do."

Like many players on the Red Sox, Betts and Benintendi haven't performed at the same level so far this season as they did a year ago.

Betts entered Saturday night's game as a career .303 hitter at leadoff with 90 homers, 289 RBIs and a .904 OPS in 471 games.

Benintendi's numbers are comparable in the one and two slots. But this season, he's had troubles in the first inning, generating just three hits in 40 at-bats.

The Red Sox came into Saturday's game with a disappointing 29-28 record and trailing the Yankees by 8 1/2 games in the American League East.

Perhaps the lineup switch will lead to a change in momentum.