BOSTON — Alex Cora has said it so often these past few weeks that it’s felt like a recording. If you give the other team more than 27 outs, they’re going to make you pay.
But after being the ones paying for defensive slip-ups in recent days, the Red Sox finally got a chance to punish their opponents, and Justin Turner was up for the task.
After the New York Yankees twice failed to get out of the bottom of the third on what should have been routine infield grounders, Turner crushed his second home run of the night for a grand slam, blowing the game open in what wound up a 15-5 win for the Red Sox.
“It was good offense all the way around,” Turner said. “We were using the whole field, our left-handed hitters just wore out the Monster all night for nine innings and found ways to get on base. (Seventeen) hits and 15 runs, that’s a pretty good offensive night.”
Turner finished 3 for 5 with two home runs, a double and six RBIs, which tied a career high. His big hit in the third came after the Red Sox already had two runs in on RBI singles by Masataka Yoshida and Pablo Reyes, and the Yankees extended the inning after third baseman Josh Donaldson bobbled the ball on Reyes’ tapper and after rookie pitcher Matt Krook failed to cover the bag on Alex Verdugo’s ensuing grounder to first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
Neither play was ruled an error, but between those plays and others the Yankees defense looked as bad or worse than anything we’ve seen from the Red Sox in recent days.
What was shaping up to be a perfect night took a terrifying turn in the top of the fifth, however, when Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck was hit in the face by a line drive off the bat of Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka. Houck immediately left the game with the trainer, walking off the field under his own power with a towel covering the face, and the club later announced he’d suffered a facial bruise.
“He was conscious the whole time,” Cora said, adding that Houck was in good spirits but they don’t know if he suffered any fractures. “He’s in the hospital right now getting further tests and we’ll know more at the end of the night, but he got lucky there.”
Prior to the incident Houck was enjoying another stellar night against the Yankees. He finished 4-plus innings and allowed just one run on four hits and a walk while striking out two. He now has a 2.39 ERA in 11 career games against the Yankees, his best mark against any opponent he’s faced at least three times.
Thanks to the offense’s epic day, the bullpen had plenty of breathing room after it was called into action, and while Turner was the game’s MVP, Yoshida also enjoyed a resurgent evening of his own.
Prior to the game Cora talked about how before they signed Yoshida they spoke to his former Japanese team to learn more about him, and one important insight they got was how to recognize when the outfielder needs a break.
“When he’s struggling or he doesn’t feel great physically there are a lot of pulled ground balls, not too many line drives the other way,” Cora said. “If you look at his chart the last two weeks that’s been the case.”
To help reset the slumping Yoshida, the club sat him for most of Monday and again on Wednesday so he’d have two straight off days leading into the weekend. The rest clearly paid off, as Yoshida hit a two-run double in the first, the RBI single to start the third-inning rally and finished 4 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs.
“I got a great rest and I felt refreshed,” Yoshida said via translator Keiichiro Wakabayashi. “Before the game I was ready.”
The Red Sox did most of their early damage against Domingo German, tagging the Yankees starter for seven hits, including five doubles and Turner’s first home run, a two-run shot in the second. Turner’s grand slam in the third made it 10-1, and the Red Sox added three more in the fourth when Connor Wong scored two on a single and an error, and Reyes tacked on his second RBI single of the night.
Triston Casas drove in Boston’s last two runs, the first courtesy of an error in the sixth and the second on an RBI double in the eighth.
Joe Jacques came on after Houck’s injury and allowed three runs (one earned) over two innings. Corey Kluber allowed a run over two innings and Brennan Bernardino finished things off with a scoreless ninth.
The Red Sox (35-35) get back to .500 with the win and weather permitting are scheduled to play again Saturday on Fox. Brayan Bello (3-4, 3.78 ERA) is slated to take the mound against Clarke Schmidt (2-6, 4.70) and first pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
