Pro Sports

Red Sox pound Yankees 19-3, biggest win ever in rivalry

Posted July 25, 2019 7:00 am

By JIMMY GOLEN

Boston Red Sox's Xander Bogaerts, left, celebrates his three-run homer with teammate Rafael Devers in the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park, Thursday, July 25, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) The Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) - Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer in a seven-run first inning, then added a solo shot in the eighth as the Boston Red Sox put a historic pounding on the AL East-leading Yankees, beating New York 19-3 on Thursday night in the opener of their four-game series.

The 19 runs were the most scored by the Red Sox against the Yankees in the 117-year history of the rivalry.

Bogaerts had four hits, and Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. had three apiece. Bradley, Michael Chavis and J.D. Martinez each had two of Boston's 10 doubles.

In perhaps the worst-ever start by a Yankees pitcher against the Red Sox, Masahiro Tanaka (7-6) allowed 12 runs on 12 hits and three walks while striking out four in 3 1/3 innings. It was the most earned runs ever allowed by a Yankees pitcher against Boston since the earned run became an official stat in 1913.

Rick Porcello (9-7) had his problems, giving back two runs in the top of the second after being spotted a 7-0 lead. Kyle Higashioka added a solo homer in the fifth to make it 12-3. But the Red Sox right-hander managed to finish six innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out five and walking one.

Porcello is 4-1 in his last six starts despite giving up 30 runs in 29 innings.

The series against the Yankees is the start of a seven-game homestand against New York and Tampa Bay and part of 14 straight against the two teams leading Boston in the division. Despite winning two of three in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Red Sox returned home a season-high 11 back in the AL East.

Tanaka, who had won four straight decisions, walked Mookie Betts to lead off the bottom of the first and walked Rafael Devers before Bogaerts hit a 451-foot homer over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street below.

He allowed three singles to load the bases and, with two outs, Bradley and Betts hit back-to-back two-run doubles to make it 7-0. Devers homered to lead off the five-run fourth, when Boston chased Tanaka.

Stephen Tarpley wasn't much better, giving up three runs in the fifth and another in the sixth. Sandy Leon hit a two-run homer in the eighth, then Bogarts followed with his second of the night; this one failed to reach Lansdowne Street only because it clipped the billboard above the Monster.

STATS

Devers leads all of baseball with 31 RBIs in July and is the youngest Red Sox player with a 30-RBI month since Ted Williams in August 1939. ... The Red Sox have scored eight or more runs in four consecutive games against the Yankees for the first time since 1912, the year Fenway Park opened.

ON THE FARM

Deivi Garcia made his third start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as he bids for a big-league callup. The 20-year-old right-hander entered the game with 124 strikeouts in 76 2/3 innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: OF Brett Gardner was placed on 10-day IL with left knee inflammation, retroactive to Monday. ... LHP Stephen Tarpley recalled from Triple-A. . OF Cameron Maybin (left calf strain) made a rehab appearance in Triple-A and went 4 for 5 with a homer and a double. Manager Aaron Boone said Maybin is expected to play nine innings in the field on Friday.

UP NEXT

Yankees: LHP James Paxton (5-5), who pitched eight innings of two-hit ball, striking out 12 against Boston on April 16.

Red Sox: RHP Andrew Cashner (9-5) makes the start for Boston as he tries to earn his first victory with the Red Sox since he was acquired from Baltimore in a trade. He's 2-5 with a 3.96 ERA in 10 starts against the Yankees.

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Boston Red Sox's Xander Bogaerts celebrates his three-run homer against New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) in the first inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Thursday, July 25, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) The Associated Press

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, middle, reacts with players on the mound after taking starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) out in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Thursday, July 25, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) The Associated Press

New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rubs the ball as he is taken out in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Thursday, July 25, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) The Associated Press

Boston Red Sox's Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a two-run double as New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres (25) looks to the outfield in the first inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Thursday, July 25, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) The Associated Press

Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers has his helmet taken off by teammate Mookie Betts in celebration of Devers' solo home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park, Thursday, July 25, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) The Associated Press

Boston Red Sox's Mookie Betts runs after hitting a two-run double in the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park, Thursday, July 25, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) The Associated Press

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