Ex-Hog Benintendi’s grand slam delivers Red Sox

RED SOX 6, RAYS 5

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Perhaps the Boston Red Sox will look back at this weekend as the games that got their title defense back on track.

The World Series champions won a series for the first time this season when former Arkansas Razorback Andrew Benintendi hit a grand slam and a tiebreaking ninth-inning sacrifice fly and catcher Christian Vázquez picked off Tommy Pham for the final out in a 6-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night.

“These are the games that we expect to win, and the last two days we’ve grinded out at bats and came out on top,” Benintendi said. “We’ll figure some things out and once we hit our stride, it’ll be a lot more fun.”

Boston had lost four of its first six series and split the other two during a 6-13 start, its worst since 1996. The Red Sox beat the American League East-leading Rays 6-4 in Friday’s series opener.

Daniel Robertson singled leading off and Pham singled with two outs. With Steve Pearce playing off first base, Willy Adames fouled off a pitch, and Vázquez, who had just entered in the middle of the ninth, received the second pitch and fired to first.

Boston went ahead in the ninth against José Alvarado (0-1) after Jackie Bradley Jr. singled leading off. Michael Chivas, a 23-year-old taken with the 26th overall pick in the 2014 amateur draft, pinch hit in his major league debut and doubled. Benintendi followed with his go-ahead fly.

YANKEES 9, ROYALS 2 Aaron Judge hurt his left oblique and was expected to go on the injured list as already banged-up New York beat visiting Kansas City.