Turner homers twice, including grand slam, to help Red Sox rout rival Yankees 15-5
By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer
BOSTON - Red Sox manager Alex Cora has sounded hopeful tones about his team possibly turning a corner after an up and down first half.
In its first Fenway Park matchup against the Yankees, Boston's bats -- combined with plentiful fielding follies from its rivals - contributed to the Red Sox's biggest offensive night of the season
Justin Turner had a grand slam, a two-run home run and a double, Masataka Yoshida drove in three runs and the Red Sox routed the New York Yankees 15-5 on Friday night.
"It was just good offense all the way around," Turner said. "Using the whole field. Our left-handed hitters just wore out the Monster all night."
Turner tied his career high with six RBIs and scored three runs. Boston earned its third victory in four meetings with its rival after winning two of three during last week's series in New York.
Yoshida had four hits. Boston's 15 hits and 17 hits marked season highs, and the Yankees tied their season high for runs allowed.
"JT hit the ball in the air a few times. Finally, I think this is probably the hottest game we've played all season," Cora said of the game time temperature of 73 degrees. "It seems like every game we've played has been in the 50s. Today it felt like summer. You know how it plays here, the ball will carry."
Tanner Houck gave up one run and four hits, with two strikeouts and a walk before leaving the game in the fifth inning after being struck in the face by a line drive by Kyle Higashioka.
Houck immediately went to the ground and stayed down for a few minutes while he was attended to by athletic trainers. His right cheek was bleeding, but he was able to get to his feet and walk off the field on his own power. He received stitches and was checked out in a local hospital.
"He was conscious the whole time, so that's good," Cora said. "But he got lucky."
Houck was replaced by Joe Jacques (1-0), who gave up three runs over two innings.
Aaron Judge missed his 10th game since sprained his right toe. The Yankees are 8-12 with Judge on the injured list and 31-19 when the AL MVP is available.
The Yankees were credited with just two errors but were out of sorts defensively throughout. They made wild throws, mishandled ground balls and were out of position other times which allowed infield hits.
"Overall we just did not play a very clean game," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Yankees starter Domingo Germán (4-4) was chased in the third inning after he gave up a leadoff double to Adam Duvall, RBI single to Yoshida and double to Christian Arroyo. Germán gave up seven runs, his most in two years, while allowing seven hits, with two walks and a wild pitch.
He was replaced by Matt Krook, who made his major league debut after being on the roster for 12 career big league games. Krook got two outs via grounders before Pablo Reyes scored off a groundball to third that was mishandled by Josh Donaldson.
Alex Verdugo singled to load the bases and Turner cleared them with his second homer of the night, a 429-foot drive to center field.
Krook's night ended in the fourth after 1 2/3 innings that saw him give up three runs, four hits and a walk.
FAST START
New York did get on the scoreboard first after Anthony Rizzo hit an RBI grounder in the first but Yoshida hit a double into the left-field gap that caromed off the Green Monster in the bottom half, scoring Turner and Rafael Devers. Turner then made it 4-1 in the second, jumping on Germán's first pitch curveball and driving it 367 feet and into the Green Monster seats for his ninth home run.
NOT A HOME RUN
Donaldson's single in the fourth inning marked the Yankees' third baseman's first hit since opening day that wasn't a home run. He hit his sixth homer of the season - a solo shot - in the eighth inning.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: Boone said Judge received another platelet-rich plasma injection on his toe but continues to make progress on an injury that has him sidelined for the second time this season. ... Outfielder Harrison Bader (strained right hamstring) will make at least one more rehab appearance in the minors before possibly rejoining the team as early as Tuesday. ... Left-hander Carlos Rodón (strained left forearm) is slated to begin rehab starts in Double-A Somerset and may need as many as three starts. ... Left-hander Nestor Cortes may begin playing catch this weekend, with July being the earliest he could be back.
Red Sox: Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi is currently not participating in baseball activities and is only receiving treatment on his surgically repaired left knee at the team's facility in Florida, Cora said. Mondesi hasn't since the Red Sox acquired him in a trade with Kansas City in January. He appeared in each of the Royals' first 15 games in 2022 but missed the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
UP NEXT
Yankees: RHP Clarke Schmidt (2-6, 4.70 ERA) will make his 15th start on Saturday. He has lasted at least five innings in each of his last five starts.
Red Sox: RHP Brayan Bello (3-4, 3.78) will be making his 11th start. He has a 2.80 ERA in his last eight starts and hasn't allowed a home run 19 innings.