Bogaerts, Red Sox crush Yankees 193
Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts had some special guests in town Thursday to see the Red Sox open a series against the AL Eastleading Yankees.
They got to Fenway Park too late to see his threerun homer in the first inning.
So Bogaerts hit another blast, a solo shot in the eighth to close the scoring as the Red Sox routed New York 193.
“The last atbat, I saw my mom there and I was like, ‘I’m going to try,’ ” said Bogaerts, who also had his uncle and Little League coaches in the stands. “I was happy I did. It will just be special having them here … and having them enjoy watching me play and doing productive stuff for the team.”
Bogaerts, born in Aruba, had four hits in all as the Red Sox posted their most lopsided victory over the Yankees in the 117year history of the rivalry.
Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. had three hits apiece; Bradley, Michael Chavis and J.D. Martinez each had two of Boston’s 10 doubles. Eight players had at least two RBIs for Boston, tying a majorleague record.
The Red Sox have won three of their first four in a stretch of 14 straight games against the Yankees and Tampa Bay, the two teams ahead of them in the division. But they remain 10 games behind New York, a halfgame behind the Rays.
“It’s a good time for everyone to be contributing,” Bogaerts said. Twins 10, White Sox 3: Nelson Cruz hit three of Minnesota’s five homers and finished with five RBIs as the AL Central leaders beat host Chicago, which fell to 3-11 since the All-Star break. Cruz hit a solo drive in the first, a two-run shot in the third and another tworun homer in the fifth. He struck out swinging for the final out of the sixth, and then flied out leading off the ninth. Cardinals 6, Pirates 3: Paul Goldschmidt homered for the fourth straight game to help visiting St. Louis complete a four-game sweep and tie the Cubs for the NL Central lead. The Cardinals have won eight of their past nine games. Mets 4, Padres 0: Todd Frazier hit a two-run double during a four-run first and Jacob deGrom limited San Diego to four hits in seven innings for host New York. Mets closer Edwin Diaz exited in the ninth after Manny Machado drilled a base hit off Diaz’s left big toe; X-rays were negative. Rockies 8, Nationals 7: Daniel Murphy homered and scored three times as visiting Colorado avoided a four-game sweep by winning for the fourth time in 20 games. Washington’s Max Scherzer, in his return from the injured list, allowed three runs and four hits in five innings. Mariners 10, Tigers 2: Tim Beckham hit his second grand slam of the season and Daniel Vogelbach drove in three runs for host Seattle. Indians 5, Royals 4: Jose Ramirez hit a go-ahead homer in the 14th and Jake Bauers added an RBI single in the inning for visiting Cleveland.