Bronx, NY—Today marked the 10th matchup this season between the Boston Red Sox and the Bronx Bombers. The Yankees dismantled the Bosox 13-2 Sunday afternoon in front of the third consecutive sellout at the Stadium. The Red Sox took a beating for a second straight day and were outscored 27-3 in the last two contests.
With the win, the Bombers now lead the series 6-4. The Sox are the only team this year to win consecutive three games vs. the Yankees.
The victory sent the Yanks into the All-Star break with the best record in MLB (64-28) and a 13-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
“It’s been a little bit of a rough week,’’ Aaron Boone said of the Yankees dropping two games last weekend at Fenway Park and then two of three to the Reds in The Bronx before taking a series from their rivals. “To answer Saturday night and today with pretty emphatic victories was good. You want to roll into the break feeling good.”
The Yankees sent starting pitcher Chris Sale back to the IL after the left-hander suffered a fractured left pinky when Aaron Hicks lined a shot off the left-hander in the Yankees’ three-run first inning fiesta.
Boston rookie Jeter Downs hit his first career homer to make it 3-2 in the second, the Bombers put the game away with eight runs in the fourth —in an inning that started with a Tim Locastro base hit and was exclamated by Locastro’s two-run home run.
It was Locastro’s third career three-hit game and it earned the outfielder the team’s postgame wrestling championship belt for the first time.
Joey Gallo came to the party swinging, homering in the seventh inning after entering as a defensive replacement.
Gerrit Cole was rolling early retiring the first seven batters he faced before Jackie Bradley Jr.’s single in the third inning, which was followed by Downs’ homer. He then set down the next eight Red Sox batters and allowed just the two runs over seven innings.
The game got off to an intriguing start, as Cole — who had allowed six home runs to Rafael Devers in 25 plate appearances — threw his first pitch to the third baseman low and inside, forcing Devers to hit the dirt.
Cole then reared back and struck out Devers on three straight pitches in the first.
Later in the inning, Gleyber Torres hit a grounder to Devers and the third baseman tried to throw out DJ LeMahieu at home, but the throw sailed left, allowing LeMahieu to score and Torres to get to second with Aaron Judge on third.
With the infield in, Matt Carpenter hit a laser to right side that short-hopped Xander Bogaerts at short, allowing Judge to score.
Hicks, then hit a line shot back at Sale, which hit Sale’s left hand and bounced into right field for a run-scoring single which forced Sale from the game after retiring just two batters trailing 3-0.
The Bronx Bombers reached double-digit runs for the 16th time — no other team has more than 10 and are cruising into the All-Star break with a major league-best record. Their 64 wins matched the 2018 Astros for third-most prior to the break since the All-Star Game began in 1933.
“Great job by them,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Been a little bit of a rough week obviously. To answer last night and today with two pretty emphatic victories, you want to roll into the break feeling good.”
The Yankees’ offense erupted again in the fourth inning with four straight singles to start off the frame against Ryan Brasier to add two more runs before Carpenter continued his blazing start in his Yankees tenure with a two-run double to right center.
Carpenter drove in 10 runs over the final two games of the first half and has 34 RBI in 31 games since joining the Yankees on May 26.
Hicks added a single to score another run before Locastro smacked a two-run shot against Jake Diekman, as the Bombers batted around in the eight-run fourth.
Cole allowed two runs and three hits over seven innings for his fourth straight victory. He also got his 13th career game of double-digit strikeouts and no walks, two behind flame thrower Randy Johnson for the most ever.
Aaron Judge singled twice and finished the first half with a major league-leading 33 home runs, tied with Roger Maris for the franchise record before the break. Judge reached 33 homers in 89 games while Maris hit 33 in his first 83 games in 1961 on his way to breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season record.
The Red Sox concluded an inconsistent first half with their sixth loss in seven games and finished the first half on a 6-14 slide, dropping 16 1/2 games behind the Bombers in the AL East.
UP NEXT:
Red Sox: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 3.34 ERA) is expected to start the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park against Toronto on Friday.
Yankees: Head to Houston for a day-night doubleheader Thursday made necessary because the lockout postponed their originally scheduled season-opening road trip games.
