Boston, MA – Mark Teixeira sparked a four-run seventh inning with a two-run triple, as the New York Yankees outlasted the Boston Red Sox, 10-8, in the opener of a four-game series.
Teixeira went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored for the Yankees, who swept a rain shortened two-game set in Boston in late April. Eric Chavez knocked in two runs.
New York starter Hiroki Kuroda gave up seven runs -- six earned -- on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings for New York, which leads the Red Sox by 8 1/2 games in the AL East. Boone Logan (4-0) got the win despite allowing one run on two hits.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a three-run homer for Boston, which has lost four in a row. Cody Ross added a solo home run.
Josh Beckett allowed six runs on eight hits over five full frames. Andrew Miller (2-1) gave up two runs on one hit to take the loss.
"We played a real close game in [one] that started out like a blowout," said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine.
Prior to the game, Boston placed second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 15- day disabled list due to a sprained right thumb.
Each team had 14 hits in a game that lasted almost four hours.
Trailing 7-6, the Yankees scored four runs in the seventh to take the lead for good. Miller walked Curtis Granderson before giving up an infield single to Alex Rodriguez. Vicente Padilla came in from the bullpen after Robinson Cano struck out looking. Teixeira greeted him with a two-run triple to center and later scored on Raul Ibanez's double to right. Scott Atchison then took over on the mound and allowed Chavez to hit an RBI single to left, making it 10-7 New York.
Ross led off the bottom half with a homer to left. The Red Sox put men on first and second later in the inning, but David Robertson got Nick Punto swinging to end the threat.
Boston had the same situation in the eighth. This time around, Rafael Soriano got Adrian Gonzalez to ground out.
Soriano went on to pitch a perfect ninth for his 20th save of the season.
"To our offense's credit we gave up five in the first, one in the second, and we had their closer in at the end of the game," continued Valentine. "That's a good job, but it really kind of put us climbing up hill all game."
Each team scored five runs in a wild first inning that featured nine hits and 18 batters.
Derek Jeter and Granderson singled before Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs for New York. Cano walked to force in a run, Teixeira hit a two-run single to center and Nick Swisher and Chavez added sacrifice flies.
"The first inning the strike zone was very hard for (Beckett) to find," said Valentine. "I've never seen him like that."
Daniel Nava got the bottom half started with a double off the Green Monster. He went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Ryan Kalish's sacrifice fly. David Ortiz singled and Ross reached first on third baseman Chavez's throwing error to set up Boston for more runs. Gonzalez followed with an RBI double to left-center field, stretching his hitting streak to 16 games. Saltalamacchia's homer to right was his 17th of the season, a new career high.
The scoring continued in the second, with each team scoring once. Granderson tripled to right-center field and raced home on Rodriguez's groundout.
In the bottom half, Nava was hit by a pitch, moved to second on Kalish's single and scored on Ortiz's base hit off the Green Monster.
Kuroda and Beckett settled down over the next couple frames. But the action picked up again in the fifth, when New York put men on second and third with one out. Swisher hit a one-hopper to second baseman Punto, who went home with the throw. Rodriguez was tagged out at the plate.
The Red Sox followed with a run in the home half to go in front. Gonzalez led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Mauro Gomez's single to left. It was Gomez's first RBI in the big leagues.
Game Notes
Boston went 12-6 against the Yankees in 2011...These two teams will play a day-night doubleheader on Saturday...Beckett came into the game with a 14-7 lifetime mark versus New York...Cano has driven in at least a run in a career- high nine straight games and has a hit in 12 in a row...The Red Sox recalled infielder Pedro Ciriaco from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Pedroia's spot on the active roster. Boston also moved reliever Rich Hill to the 60-day disabled list.
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