After snapping their three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday, the Red Sox are 20-19. They’re still in third place in the American League East, six and a half games out back from the Baltimore Orioles (26-12) and a game and a half behind the New York Yankees (26-15).

Brayan Bello is back from the 15-day injured list and making his first start since April 19 in Pittsburgh. In order to free up a roster spot, the Red Sox optioned Josh Winckowski to Triple-A.

“Love having the two lefties, and Zack (Kelly) is throwing the ball well,” Alex Cora explained Sunday morning. “I think (Winckowski) will benefit from going down there and working on his repertoire. Probably breaking ball for swing-and-miss. He’s very talented, he’s good.”

Winckowski began the season in the Red Sox bullpen before several members of the starting rotation went on the injured list. He made three starts between Apr. 21 and May 2, allowing two earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and striking out two over 10.2 total innings. He made two relief appearances since, but hasn’t pitched since May 8. In Worcester, however, he’ll join the Triple-A rotation.

“He’ll start down there. We’ll put the structure around him, and at one point, he’s gonna be back here, he’s gonna contribute,” the manager said.

It was a somewhat unexpected move, as Winckowski has been with the big-league club since the start of last season.

“The message is, you go down there and work,” Cora said of his conversation with the right-hander. “We’re much (more) talented than last year, and there’s gonna be tough decisions, and there’s more tough decisions coming up.”

“For us to be good, we have to be better in certain aspects,” he added. “There’s a few things this year that he’s been off. He knows it. Obviously disappointed that he’s going to the minors, but we’ve all been through that. So just go down there and work. He wants to come back here, then do the things that you have to do and the things that you can control.”

That said, Cora stressed that the roster move was more about the team.

“This is the roster, this decision was based on the roster,” he said, “And on what we feel we need right now to win as many games as possible right now. And obviously, for him to be better.”

Instead of their usual leadoff man, Jarren Duran, the Red Sox have right-handed hitter Romy Gonzalez leading off and the lefty Duran batting eighth on Sunday.

“He’s a lefty,” Cora explained of Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore. “Their lefty (reliever) should be down today, so as soon as they go to a righty, we’ll pivot to (Wilyer Abreu).”

Red Sox lineup (May 12)

Romy Gonzalez SS

Rob Refsnyder DH

Tyler O’Neill RF

Rafael Devers 3B

Connor Wong C

Garrett Cooper 1B

Vaughn Grissom 2B

Jarren Duran LF

Ceddanne Rafaela CF

Nationals lineup (May 12)

CJ Abrams SS

Luis García Jr. 2B

Joey Meneses 1B

Jesse Winker LF

Nick Senzel DH

Eddie Rosario RF

Ildemaro Vargas 3B

Riley Adams C

Victor Robles CF

Red Sox vs. Nationals probable starting pitchers

RHP Brayan Bello vs. LHP MacKenzie Gore

How to watch Red Sox vs. Nationals (May 12)

When: 1:35 p.m. ET

Where: Fenway Park, Boston

TV: NESN, MASN (Blackout restrictions may apply)

Red Sox radio: WEEI 93.7 FM, WCCM 1490 AM (Spanish)

Nationals radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7, La Pantera 100.7 FM/1220 AM

May 12 in baseball history

1910: Serving as the home-plate umpire for Philadelphia A’s pitcher Chief Bender’s no-hitter of the Cleveland Naps, Bill Dinneen becomes the only person in big-league history to both pitch a no-hitter (with the 1905 Red Sox) and call one.

1948: The first Red Sox game at Fenway Park is televised on WBZ-TV and Bobby Doerr hits a walk-off home run in the 10th.

2000: Pedro Martinez ties Luis Tiant’s American League record from 1968 when he racks up 32 strikeouts over a two-game span. After striking out 17 Tampa Bay Devil Rays in his previous start, Martinez Ks 15 Baltimore Orioles in a 9-0 shutout.

2004: On the 18th pitch of an at-bat against Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Clement, a young Dodgers infielder named Alex Cora hits a two-run homer. Cora, the future manager of the Red Sox, fouls off 14 consecutive pitches in the battle.

2016: The Red Sox become the first team since 2007 to score double-digit runs in four consecutive games, and the first to collect at least 14 hits in each contest since the 1930 Athletics. Jackie Bradley Jr. also extends his Major League-leading hitting streak to 18 games. The streak will reach 29 before he goes 0-for-4 against the Colorado Rockies at Fenway on May 26.

(Sources: Baseball-Reference, SABR, Nationalpastime.com)