SAN DIEGO — Red Sox DH Masataka Yoshida entered Friday against the Padres batting .222 (12-for-54) with an extremely high 68.2% ground ball percentage and just one walk in 16 games this season.

His only homer was against a position player.

During his pregame media availability, manager Alex Cora pointed out that Yoshida was hitting the ball on the ground too often and not walking enough.

But Cora then added, “We trust the guy. That’s why he’s playing tonight.”

Yoshida delivered out of the five hole in the batting order. He went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, double and RBI sac fly to help the Red Sox win 10-2 over San Diego at Petco Park .

“He worked hard today with the group,” Cora said. “The batting practice was a little bit different today. He was driving the ball and he took th

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