When the Red Sox saw Andrew Benintendi fall to the ground with a non-contact injury Aug. 24 in the Tropicana dome, worst-case scenarios quickly came to mind. A torn ligament that would require a surgical repair and not only end his 2016 season but jeopardize some of 2017 seemed a disappointing possibility.

Instead, Benintendi suffered a left knee sprain that required more conventional rest and rehabilitation.

On Tuesday, the Red Sox determined that the 22-year-old outfielder was ready to return to the active roster.

The Red Sox made the move after Benintendi took some swings in a simulated game setting against teammate Henry Owens, then ran and slid.

“I think we all held our collective breath,’’ manager John Farrell said of his initial view of Benintendi’s injury. “When you see someone go down in a heap like that, you fear the worst. Thankfully he’s got youth and maybe some quick healing on his side.’’

As outfielder Brock Holt is managing a shoulder injury suffered in Toronto, the Sox activated the rookie immediately after the workout. Benintendi, who will be wearing a knee brace, backed up Chris Young, who was starting against Orioles righthander Dylan Bundy.

While Young went 0 for 2 with two walks and a run in the Red Sox’ 6-3 loss, Benintendi did not play.

Young has been one of the Sox’ hottest hitters, going into Tuesday’s game with a .290 average, .368 OBP, and .550 slugging mark for the year, and a .333/.458/.692 line in 15 games since returning from a hamstring injury.

At the least, Young will continue to get regular at-bats against lefthanded starters, and Farrell said the Sox will proceed gradually with Benintendi after three weeks of down time.

Benintendi’s return will afford the Sox more options, with the Sox hopeful that a player who’d hit .324/.365/.485 in his first 21 career games may add a dimension over the duration of the season.

“We dodged a bullet and now I’m glad to be back,’’ said Benintendi. “It’s a really exciting time. It seems like everybody is right there and we’re playing really good baseball right now.’’

Porcello keeps plugging

Rick Porcello, the first Red Sox 20-game winner since 2007, will seek his 21st victory Wednesday. There have been 11 pitchers who won 21 games or more in the last decade. Of those, all 11 finished in the top three in their league’s Cy Young balloting, with seven taking the honor.

“He’s certainly in the conversation, my gosh he’s having a great year,’’ said Farrell.

“I think the greatest description you can give a player is that they are dependable and reliable regardless of the level of performance. Rick embodies that. He does that by the work he puts in.

“When you know what you’re going to get, there’s lot of comfort in that and I think a lot of comfort that the rest of our team feels.’’

Closers of a feather

Perhaps no one could more fully appreciate the historic run of Orioles closer Zach Britton this year than Red Sox counterpart Craig Kimbrel. After all, when Britton made 43 consecutive appearances without permitting an earned run from May 5 to Aug. 22, he surpassed Kimbrel’s 2011 record of 38 straight contests. (Kimbrel didn’t allow any runs — earned or unearned — during his own run, and so he still possesses the record for longest scoreless games streak.)

“At the time, you don’t really think about, ‘I’ve gone this many innings without giving up any runs.’ You understand everything you’ve done in that run can be taken away in one outing. It’s the life of a reliever,’’ explained Kimbrel. “I wasn’t really paying attention to any records. I just pay attention to the pitcher he’s been over the last three years.

“It’s been very impressive, especially what he’s been able to do this year. He’s perfect in save opportunities, gives up less than half a run . . . He throws 97-, 98-mile-per-hour sinkers that guys are just trying to make contact with. It’s very impressive.’’

No reliever has won the Cy Young since Eric Gagne in 2003.

Kimbrel believes that Britton (0.62 ERA, 42-for-42 in save opportunities) should be in the mix for the honor.

“He should definitely be considered,’’ said Kimbrel. “If you had a starting pitcher who went out and pitched as well as he can do all year long, it would be a no-doubt question that he was going to be in the Cy Young conversation. I don’t think there’s any reason a reliever shouldn’t be, especially as good a season as he’s had.’’

Pedroia first, foremost

Dustin Pedroia went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. He’s now hitting .450 since moving to the leadoff spot. The double was the 373d of his Red Sox career, tying him with Hall of Famer Jim Rice on the Red Sox’ all-time list. He’s posted a .506 batting average over a 19-game home hitting streak, while reaching base in 33 straight Fenway contests — tied for the longest such run of his career . . . Hanigan’s bases-loaded walk gave him a .450 career OBP with the bases loaded, second-best among active hitters (minimum 50 plate appearances) . . . With one run allowed inn seven innings, the Sox’ bullpen ERA in September rose slightly to 0.94. That mark leads the majors.

Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him on twitter at @alexspeier.