Gleyber, DJ each blast 2 homers to toss aside Sox in doubleheader sweep
The Yankees won two more games on Saturday to expand their lead in the AL East.
In the process, they lost two more key players — meaning their doubleheader sweep of the Red Sox pretty much typified their entire season.
This time, it was Edwin Encarnacion going down with a fractured right wrist in a 9-2 win in the opener and then Aaron Hicks left with a worrisome elbow injury in the nightcap, a 6-4 win. “Any time your guys go down, it’s frustrating,’’ Aaron Boone said. “You feel for them. But we’ve dealt with this all season long. Next man up has served us really well. Hopefully in both cases, they’re back sooner rather than later.” The injuries overshadowed what should have been another productive day — and night — for the first-place Yankees, who have won four straight and also beaten Boston in their last four matchups in the last week. Tampa Bay’s victory over Miami — their fifth in a row — meant the Yankees’ lead in the division is eight games heading into Sunday’s series finale against the Red Sox.
But perhaps the Yankees’ larger concern is simply surviving the season, since the serious injuries seem to keep on coming.
“It’s kind of crazy,’’ said Hicks, who hurt his elbow on a throw from center field to third base in the sixth inning. He left in the eighth and will have an MRI exam on Sunday.
“Guys come back, somebody else goes down,” Hicks said. “It’s tough, but we’ve been dealing with it this whole year and we’ve been able to still win.’’
That includes Saturday, when they poured more dirt on the Red Sox, who are in the midst of their longest losing streak in four years. It reached seven on Saturday, as they dropped to 13 ½ games behind the Yankees in front of two more sellout crowds in The Bronx.
Domingo German and DJ LeMahieu led them to a lopsided victory in the opener, while Mike Tauchman put them ahead for good in the nightcap as the Yankees continued to get production from throughout their roster.
Zack Britton gave them a scare in the second game by loading the bases in the eighth before striking out Rafael Devers to preserve a two-run lead.
Using Chad Green as an opener, the Yankees got an inning-plus from the right-hander before Nestor Cortes Jr. and Chance Adams both gave up a pair of runs in two-inning outings.
Torres tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth with his second homer of the night, which allowed Boone to go to the heart of his bullpen. Adam Ottavino and Tommy Kahnle threw scoreless innings before the Yankees went ahead in the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, Tauchman slapped a two-run single to left to give the Yankees the lead and they held on for the win.
It followed what LeMahieu and German did in the opener.
LeMahieu’s two homers — including a three-run shot in a seven-run fourth — sparked the offense and German delivered another strong outing.
And the Yankees knocked around Chris Sale again. The lefty is 0-4 with a 9.90 ERA in four outings against the Yankees this year. He allowed a season-high eight runs in just 3 2/3 innings and seven of them came in the fourth, all with two out.
Boston manager Alex Cora and Sale were both tossed by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook, as Sale unraveled.
German outdueled Sale for the second time in less than a week. He gave up just two runs in seven innings — and became the first Yankee to record an out in the seventh inning since the All-Star break, as the Yankees also have to decide how to use him down the stretch, keeping his innings-limit in mind.
But by the end of Saturday night, the Yankees had bigger health concerns, waiting to see just how much worse their injury woes could get.