New York Yankees Bomb Red Sox In Bronx, Belting Five Home Runs In 7-4 Win

The New York Yankees lived up to their age-old nickname, “The Bronx Bombers,” on Saturday as they belted five home runs on their way to a 7-4 victory in a day game against their rivals, the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

The game was the third in the early-season four game series between the perennial American League East Division foes. The series concludes with a Sunday night game broadcast nationally by ESPN starting at 8pm Eastern.

Though it made no difference to the outcome, this Yankees vs. Red Sox game had another controversy, this one involving Major League Baseball’s new video replay system.

In the eighth inning, the Yankees Dean Anna doubled to right fielder Daniel Nava, who threw back into shortstop Xander Bogaerts covering second base. As Bogaerts kept the tag applied, Anna’s foot clearly came off the bag, meaning he should have been called out.

Red Sox manager John Farrell used his one allotted challenge on the play, but weirdly, the safe call was upheld even though the video evidence was clear, as seen in the below screen capture.

The loss kept the Red Sox from getting back to the.500 mark, leaving the defending World Series champs at 5-7 for the very young 2014 season. On their way to a 2013 Divisional pennant and eventually, World Series championship, the Red Sox never spent a single day at or below the.500 mark.

Four of the Yankees’ home runs came off Boston starter John Lackey, who had never allowed more than three round-trippers in a game in his career, which began with the Los Angeles Angels in 2002. Lackey gave up 10 hits and six runs, though he also struck out six and walked no one in 5 2/3 innings on his way to his first loss of the year against a pair of victories.

Hiroki Kuroda recorded the win for the New York Yankees, going 6 1/3 and giving up all four Red Sox runs.

Carlos Beltran, a 36-year-old eight time All Star playing for his sixth big league team, got the party started for the Yankees with a two-run blast in the fisrt inning off Lackey, who then gave up back-to-back blasts to Brian McCann and Alfsonso Soriano in the fourth. Another McCann shot in the sixth inning chased Lackey from the game.

Kelly Johnson had the final Yankees home run, coming in the eighth inning off Red Sox reliever Burke Badenhop.

The Red Sox got a two-run homer from catcher A.J. Pierzynski in the second inning to briefly tie the game, but the Red Sox would not score again until the seventh when little-used Mike Carp — filling in for Grady Sizemore who had a scheduled day off — singled with the bases loaded to drive in another pair. But Shawn Kelly closed out the victory for the New York Yankees, recording a spotless ninth for his second save.