NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Napoli hit a grand slam right after a mound conference, Felix Doubront stifled the Yankees once again and the Boston Red Sox sent New York to its sixth loss in seven games, 11-1 Saturday night.
Daniel Nava added a three-run homer in the eighth inning that emptied the crowd. The aisles were full of fans streaming to the exits by the time Nava touched the plate, and a “Let’s go, Red Sox” chant erupted when Stephen Drew homered in a three-run ninth.
Additional Photos
The Red Sox stopped Phil Hughes’ recent run of success against them and evened this three-game series going into Sunday night’s wrapup. Boston won on a warm evening, with Yankees catcher Chris Stewart leaving after the fourth inning because of dehydration.
Napoli’s second slam of the season capped a five-run burst in the third and followed an intentional walk to David Ortiz. Stewart and shortstop Jayson Nix visited Hughes when the count reached 2-2, and Napoli lined the next pitch over the right-center fence for his fifth career slam.
The Red Sox had been outhomered by the Yankees 4-0 in their first four meetings this year. Napoli and Nava provided pop, and more — Nava got four of Boston’s 18 hits and had an RBI grounder in the ninth, Napoli had three hits.
Doubront (4-2) won for the first time in five starts since his last victory on April 27. He permitted one run and six hits in six innings, striking out six.
The 25-year-old lefty with the slow, big-breaking curve has a 2.52 ERA in 10 career outings against the Yankees, including four straight quality starts last year.
Robinson Cano was hitless in 12 career at-bats against Doubront before solving him for a single. The next time up, Cano took a wild swing and missed a 72 mph breaking ball by a lot.
Hughes (2-4) was pulled in the fifth when Napoli came up. The right-hander won his final three starts against Boston last year while allowing a total of three earned runs.
NOTES: Napoli hit Boston’s fourth slam of the year. … Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira singled for his first hit of the season after coming off the disabled list a day earlier. … Red Sox CF Jacoby Ellsbury missed his second straight game because of tightness in his left groin. Manager John Farrell says he hasn’t ruled out Ellsbury returning Sunday night. … RHP Clay Buchholz (7-0, 1.73) is set to start for Boston in the series finale vs. RHP Hiroki Kuroda (6-3, 2.39). … The Yankees will host a day-night doubleheader (1:05 p.m./7:05 p.m.) on Aug. 20 against Toronto to make up for a rainout on May 19. … Bernando LaPallo, who says at 111 that he’s the oldest Yankees fan, was on the dirt near the dugout during batting practice and injured star Derek Jeter came over to greet him. “Hit some home runs,” LaPallo told Jeter. “I got to start playing first,” the All-Star answered. Born on Aug, 17, 1901, LaPallo says he first saw the team in person when it was called the Highlanders and played at Hilltop Park, its home until 1912. LaPallo says he met Babe Ruth even before he played for the Yankees or Red Sox.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.