NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole brushed back Rafael Devers and struck out 12, Matt Carpenter drove in three more runs and the New York Yankees pounded the Red Sox 13-2 Sunday after Boston ace Chris Sale broke his left pinkie finger in the first inning.
The Yankees reached double-digit runs for the 16th time — no other team has more than 10 such games — and cruised into the All-Star break with a major league-best record of 64-28. Their 64 wins matched the 2018 Astros for third-most prior to the break since the All-Star Game began in 1933.
Cole (9-2) dusted Devers off the plate with a low, 99 mph fastball on his first pitch to the third baseman after allowing two homers to him July 7 in Boston. Devers glared at Cole from the dirt, then struck out swinging at a high fastball.
Cole allowed two runs and three hits over seven innings for his fourth straight win.
Aaron Judge singled twice and finished the first half with a major league-leading 33 homers, tied with Roger Maris for the franchise record before the break. Judge reached 33 homers in 89 games while Maris hit 33 in his first 83 games in 1961 on his way to breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season record.
Judge, Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu were hit by pitches after Cole knocked down Devers. LeMahieu was in considerable pain after being hit in the left elbow during the eighth inning and left the game, but manager Aaron Boone said there wasn't an injury concern.
Carpenter had an RBI groundout in a three-run first inning and added a two-run double in an eight-run fourth. Carpenter drove in 10 runs over the final two games of the first half and has 34 RBIs in 31 games since joining the Yankees on May 26.
Tim Locastro hit a two-run homer off Jake Diekman in the fourth. On the one-year anniversary of suffering a torn ACL in his right knee crashing into a wall in foul territory against Boston, Locastro went 3 for 5 and stole two bases.
LeMahieu and Judge started New York’s big inning with RBI singles and then scored on Carpenter’s double.
Aaron Hicks hit a pair of RBI singles, including the hit that fractured Sale’s left pinkie. Sale yelled in pain and exited after attempting to field Hicks’ 106.7 mph liner.
Joey Gallo tacked on a two-run homer after entering as defensive replacement in the seventh.
Sale (0-1) was making his second start since returning from a fractured right rib that he sustained working out on his own during the major league lockout.
Devers went 0 for 3 after homering on the first pitch he saw in the previous two games.
Rookie Jeter Downs hit a two-run homer off Cole in the third and also singled. The homer was his first in the majors.
The Red Sox concluded an inconsistent first half with their sixth loss in seven games and finished the first half on a 6-14 slide, dropping 16 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East. Before slumping since June 27, Boston won 19 of 23 games.
Sale allowed three runs and two hits in 2/3 of an inning. After Sale exited, the Red Sox used every reliever except Austin Davis.
WOWED BY DOMINGUEZ
Boone said he saw video of Jasson Dominguez’s homer at Saturday’s All-Star Futures Game at Dodger Stadium.
Dominguez, at 19 the youngest AL prospect at the game, hit a tying homer with a 415-foot drive on a slider at the letters.
“It’s front door, Dodger Stadium,” Boone said. “Pretty good for a young man.”
Dominguez, signed by the Yankees as an international free agent in 2019, was promoted from Low-A Tampa to High-A Hudson Valley on Thursday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: LHP Rich Hill (left knee sprain) threw 35 pitches in a bullpen session Saturday.
Yankees: RHP Ron Marinaccio (right shoulder inflammation) struck out two and threw 23 pitches in his first rehab appearance for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 3.34 ERA) is expected to start the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park against Toronto on Friday.
Yankees: Head to Houston for a day-night doubleheader Thursday made necessary because the lockout postponed their originally scheduled season-opening road trip.
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