SAN DIEGO -- The Red Sox had to play their Sunday finale in San Diego without Andrew Benintendi, who tweaked his left side while taking a big swing and missing a pitch in the fifth inning on Saturday.

With an off-day on Monday, the hope is that the outfielder could return on Tuesday night in Denver, but it’s too soon to tell.

“He’s doing OK. He feels better,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "We’ll stay away from him today, probably get some treatment tomorrow and we’ll know a little bit more on Tuesday.”

The timing of the injury was a little easier in that the Sox have to play one starting position player short anyway under National League rules.

Jackie Bradley Jr., who was out of the lineup the first two games at Petco Park as regular DH J.D. Martinez started in the outfield, started in center on Sunday.

Benintendi came out of Saturday’s game in the bottom of the sixth and was replaced by Bradley.

Cora is hopeful that Benintendi being honest with the training staff on Saturday helped him prevent a prolonged injury.

“He felt it on the last [at-bat], the first swing, he kind of like, felt it. And after that, he was smart enough to let us know so nothing horrible happened,” said Cora.

Chavis unlikely for Colorado

Infielder Michael Chavis, recovering from a sprained AC joint in his left wrist, played a third straight game on a rehab assignment for Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday, going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

Cora said it’s doubtful Chavis will join the Red Sox for their upcoming two-game series at Colorado. The earliest you will see the rookie is next weekend in Anaheim. It’s also possible Chavis won’t return until the Red Sox open their next homestand on Sept. 3 against the Twins.

At this point, the issue is more Chavis getting his timing back than anything physical. He did have two doubles in Saturday’s game. Cora noted they were both on pitches low in the zone. The biggest issue for Chavis has been handling high fastballs.

“I mean, physically OK, he bounced back well from back-to-back games,” said Cora. “Haven’t talked to [trainers] Jamie [Creps] or Brad [Pearson] about it. So far, so good.”

Vazquez carrying heavy workload

It is a credit to Christian Vázquez’s emergence that Sunday was his 83rd start behind the plate this season in the 131 games the Red Sox have played. Vazquez is easily going to surpass the career-high 85 starts at catcher he set in 2017.

“I mean, like I said, he did an outstanding job in the offseason preparing himself,” said Cora. “Lately, he’s been doing an outstanding job calling the game. We talked about him blocking the ball 10 days ago, and in this series he’s done a good job. Offensively, he’s a threat. He’s doing an outstanding job. He’s been good. He’s a guy we’re going to rely on.”

With the Red Sox still pushing for the second American League Wild Card spot, Vazquez will be in the lineup a lot.

“Today is a day game after a night game, but tomorrow we have an off-day, and an off-day on Thursday,” Cora said. “He’s going to catch most of the games. He’s been very solid, as far as preparation. We’re very happy with the way he has progressed.”

Cora: Eovaldi needs to pitch up

Whether it is starting or relieving, Nathan Eovaldi just hasn’t been able to get in the same rhythm he was in for the Red Sox last year.

Cora thinks the big reason is pitch location. He’d like to see Eovaldi start pounding the upper half of the strike zone again with his high-90s -- and sometimes triple-digit -- fastball.

“Also, there were a few things we noticed that we didn’t do yesterday that we should do,” said Cora. “Last year, we talked about it. Pitch up in the zone. He hasn’t pitched up in the zone for a while, and that’s a weapon for him. When he pitched up in the zone last year, he dominated. This year, it seems like everything is down, from the waist down, and that’s something we have to correct for the next one. And if we do that, I think we’re going to be in a good spot.”