Sanchez’s 2 HRs secure Yankees’ lead in AL East
Sanchez blasts pair of HRs as Yanks bury Sox to take 2 out of 3
Taking two of three from the Red Sox shouldn’t be discounted even early in June because they remain the favorite to win the AL East.
Yet, to say simply because Thursday night’s 9-1 battering of the Red Sox and David Price in front of 46,194 at Yankee Stadium means the Yankees are done spinning their wheels is a stretch because they are 10-10 in their last 20 games.
After losing the first game, 5-4, to the Red Sox on Tuesday night, the Yankees’ lead over their rivals was down to one. When Thursday night’s action was complete the advantage was a seasonhigh three lengths and had the Yankees feeling good about themselves.
“It’s a division series against the team that is right on our heels,’’ Chase Headley said of winning two of three. “For us to bounce back after losing the first one, it’s a good series for us.’’
Made possible by Gary Sanchez’s second two-homer game in a week and Michael Pineda’s solid seven innings of work in which he gave up an unearned run, four singles, two walks and struck out eight.
Dropped from second to sixth Wednesday in order to get Aaron Hicks’ smoking bat higher in the lineup, Sanchez continued to assault Price. Sanchez hit a three-run homer off the lefty in the third when the Yankees stretched the lead to 4-0 and a two-run homer in the fifth to right-center on a 95-mph fastball.
“I wouldn’t say I felt a little demoted or negative,’’ said Sanchez, who drove in five runs and threw out Mookie Betts attempting to steal second in the first inning. “If I am in the lineup I am happy with that. Hitting second I wasn’t doing my job.’’
In his past 10 at-bats hitting between Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge, Sanchez was hitless.
In Sanchez’s brief big league career he is 4-for-7 with four homers against Price, who was rocked for six runs and eight hits in five in- nings in what was just his third start of the season. Price’s 14 wins are the most against the Yankees by an active pitcher. However, in five of the past six games against them the Yankees have scored at least five runs off Price.
“Find a pitch and make contact, that’s the approach,’’ Sanchez said about facing Price, who went off on the Boston media Wednesday. “Keep it simple and make good contact.’’
Sanchez had company hurting the Red Sox. Brett Gardner went 2-for-5 with a homer and Aaron Judge went 3-for-4 and raised his batting average to .330.
As for Pineda, he bounced back from having a three-game winning streak stopped last week in Toronto with a perhaps his best outing of the season. Pineda hadn’t beaten the Red Sox since Sept. 1, 2015.
“After losing [the first game], to come back and win the next two against a tough team with tough pitching, we will take it,’’ Gardner said. “Good to win [Thursday] and win the series to give us a little separation from the rest of the group.’’
Naturally, taking two of three from the Red Sox beats the alternative, and a three-game cushion is welcome heading into a three-game series with the Orioles, against whom the Yankees are 4-5.
And when you figure in they aren’t getting a stitch of help from former ace Masahiro Tanaka, 10-10 is OK to a point, but eventually playing .500 baseball will catch up to any team.
Gary Sanchez watches his three-run homer in the third inning off David Price. The catcher added a two-run shot off Price in the fifth as the Yankees rolled to a 9-1 win at the Stadium, routing Boston for the second straight night to build a three-game lead over the second-place Red Sox.