Four homers give CC, Yanks ample cushion
Red Sox routed, tumble out of first place
NEW YORK — Packed house, summer heat, Red Sox-yankees for the majors’ best record.
So, CC Sabathia, did it feel like a really big night in Bronx?
“I wish I could tell you it did,” he said, “but it didn’t.”
Instead, he just pitched as if the calendar read October, rather than June.
Sabathia shut down the high-scoring Red Sox, Greg Bird hit two home runs, and Aaron Judge connected off a college teammate as New York bopped Boston 8-1 on Friday to edge ahead in the American League East.
Not since the famed Bucky Dent playoff game in 1978 had the Yankees and Red Sox met so late in a season when they owned the majors’ two top marks. Home runs decided this matchup, too, with Miguel Andujar also going deep for New York.
The biggest crowd of the year at Yankee Stadium was in the spirit, with lines forming outside the gates more than 3½ hours before the start. The pro-yankees chants began prior to the first pitch; the anti-boston shouts soon followed.
Sabathia (5-3) helped end Boston’s four-game win streak, less than a month from his 38th birthday. He gave up one run and six hits in seven innings, improving to 6-0 in his past seven starts against the Red Sox.
The big lefty bounded off the mound to field Mookie Betts’ tapper and throw him out to end his outing. Slowed by knee problems in the past, a pumped-up Sabathia kept in motion and jogged to the dugout.
Betts and Andrew Benintendi hit consecutive doubles in the fifth for Boston’s run in the opener of a three-game series.
Steve Pearce, acquired a day earlier from Toronto, batted cleanup in his Boston debut. He doubled on the first pitch he saw and also singled off Sabathia.
Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3) gave up five early runs as the Red Sox fell to 3-4 against their rivals this season.
Judge connected for his 21st homer, a two-run drive in the seventh off Justin Haley. The former Fresno State players eagerly chatted behind the cage during batting practice — the rookie reliever angrily kicked at the mound dirt as Judge circled the bases.