A rivalry that has featured its fair share of fisticuffs over the years has been relatively peaceful of late, and remained that way in its first iteration of the season.
The only punches thrown in The Bronx on Friday came from the Yankees’ bats, and they did not waste any time landing them.
The Yankees pounded Walker Buehler for seven runs in the first two innings and then hung on late to sink the Red Sox further into misery with a 9-6 win in front of a sellout crowd of 46,783 at the Stadium.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. led the offensive attack, continuing his tear since his Tuesday return from the injured list by going 3-for-5 with two steals and a three-run homer, which started the scoring in the first inning. Aaron Judge added another ho-hum three-hit game to raise his average to .397 while Anthony Volpe and Paul Goldschmidt each clubbed home runs.
In the process, the Yankees (39-23) climbed to a season-high 16 games above .500 and continued to build distance between them and the fourth-place Red Sox (30-35), who have lost nine of their last 12.
The only real concern of the night for the Yankees (39-23) was Volpe leaving the game after three innings with a left elbow contusion that required X-rays and a CT scan. The injury stemmed from taking a Buehler 89 mph changeup to the elbow in the bottom of the second inning, which forced in a run with the bases loaded to make it 7-0.
The Yankees’ seven runs in the first two innings — all coming with two outs — matched their output from the entire three-game series against the Guardians this week, giving Will Warren plenty of run support as he cruised early before hitting a wall in the sixth.
The Red Sox’s pitching has been a mess, especially of late, as Friday marked the third time in the last four games that their starter has given up six runs or more in two innings or fewer. This time it was Buehler, who last stood on the Yankee Stadium mound to close out the Dodgers’ World Series championship in Game 5 last October.
On Friday, the Yankees ambushed him with a five-run first inning, which marked the 15th time this season they have scored five runs or more in a single inning — tied with the Cubs for the most in the majors. They had 15 such innings all of last season, 16 in 2023, 19 in 2022 and nine in 2021.
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After Trent Grisham led off with a full-count walk and Judge doubled, Buehler got two outs before throwing an 0-2 curveball below the zone to Chisholm. The third baseman got just enough of it to clear the wall in center field for a three-run blast, his ninth of the year.
After missing more than a month with an oblique strain, Chisholm is 8-for-16 with two home runs, six RBIs and three steals in four games since coming back.
Jasson Domínguez kept the rally going with a single before Volpe drilled Buehler’s 95 mph fastball down the middle to right field for his eighth home run of the year.
After forcing Buehler to throw 33 pitches in the first inning, the Yankees made him throw 34 more in the second while piling on with Chisholm’s RBI single and Volpe’s bases-loaded, RBI hit-by-pitch, which came at a cost.
Warren bounced back from a brutal start against the Dodgers last time out, when he gave up seven runs in 1 ¹/₃ innings. Against the Red Sox, he breezed into the sixth inning before losing his command, finishing with 5 ¹/₃ innings of four-run ball. Marcelo Mayer’s first career home run was the only blemish entering the sixth, but then Warren allowed a triple and three walks to end his night.
The Red Sox crept within three runs in the seventh inning when Rafael Devers hit a two-run shot off lefty Brent Headrick. That forced Aaron Boone to use high-leverage relievers the rest of the way, but Fernando Cruz, Jonathan Loáisiga and Devin Williams did the job to close out the win.
