BOSTON — CC Sabathia finally snapped out of his Red Sox funk, and it took an extra effort to do it.
The big Yankees lefthander struck out 10 on Tuesday night, throwing a season-high 128 pitches in six innings to beat Boston for the first time in five tries and lead New York to a 5-2 victory. The Yankees improved to 3-13 this season against the Red Sox, who still lead the AL East by one-half game.
“It’s always a big game when you’re playing the team you’re chasing,” Sabathia said, conceding to reporters that he had grown tired of the reminders of his struggles against Boston. “Of course, when you guys won’t stop talking about it.”
Sabathia (18-7) had been 0-4 with a 7.20 ERA against the Red Sox this year, and 17-3 with a 2.40 ERA against the rest of baseball. He allowed two runs on 10 hits and two walks; only once in his career has he thrown more than 128 pitches.
“He got big outs when he had to, and that’s CC,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who was ejected with one out to go after Mariano Rivera hit a swinging Jarrod Saltalamacchia with a pitch —the fourth hit batter of the game. “It’s not like me to blow my top, but it’s an important game. This is a huge game, a huge series.”
Mariano Rivera finished the ninth for his 35th save.
John Lackey (12-10) allowed five runs — four earned — on seven hits and four walks, striking out three. Nick Swisher had three hits, and Francisco Cervelli hit a solo homer in the fifth, clapping as he crossed the plate. That may have been why, when he came up again in the seventh, Lackey hit him in the back, sparking a bench-clearing staredown.
“I totally understand how it could look that way. Guy hit a home run. Next at-bat, first pitch, you hit him,” Saltalamacchia said. “We had no intent on hitting him. It just happened that way.”
After getting hit, Cervelli moved toward the mound as the dugouts slowly emptied and home plate umpire Ed Rapuano tried to maintain order. There was nothing more than jawing back and forth, and in the end Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild was ejected.
In the first inning, Curtis Granderson took one off the end of the bat — or the hand, depending on whom you believe — and then Sabathia plunked Jacoby Ellsbury to lead off the bottom half.
“It’s part of the game,” Cervelli said. “Yankees-Boston, everybody wants to win.”
New York took a 1-0 lead in the second and made it 3-0 in the fourth when Robinson Cano hit an RBI double and scored on Eric Chavez’s single. After Boston cut the lead to 3-2 on Carl Crawford’s homer and an RBI double by Marco Scutaro, New York added Cervelli’s solo homer in the fifth and Derek Jeter’s run-scoring double play in the seventh that made it 5-2.
The Red Sox had 13 hits in all, but Saltalamacchia stranded seven and Adrian Gonzalez stranded five; each struck out three times. It was also a rough day at the plate for Jorge Posada, who left five men on and grounded into a pair of double plays, and Jeter, who returned after missing two games with a bruised kneecap, grounded out five times.
NOTES: Game 2 of the series will match Phil Hughes and Josh Beckett. Beckett is 3-0 vs. the Yankees this season in four starts. Hughes is coming off a rocky start against Oakland, when he allowed six earned runs in 2 2-3 innings of a 22-9 Yankees victory. … Keegan Bradley, a Vermont native who won the PGA Championship this month, threw out the ceremonial first pitch and gave a big fist pump afterward. … Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield won’t pitch in the upcoming series against Texas. Instead he’ll make his start against Toronto. Andrew Miller, Erik Bedard and Lackey will f ace the Rangers. … Manager Terry Francona said RHP Clay Buchholz, on the 60-day disabled list with a stress fracture on his back, threw 25 times from 60 feet and did well in the limited workout. Francona said Buchholz will continue to rehabilitate slowly. “Whether this turns into him pitching (this season) or not, we don’t know, but it’s still exciting in the fact that he’s done so well t o this point.” … Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez was out of the lineup, one day after receiving a cortisone injection for his sprained left thumb. Rodriguez said he hoped to play in the three-game series at Boston, but felt this weekend at home against Toronto was more likely.
Rangers 2, Rays 0
ARLINGTON, Texas — Josh Hamilton hit a towering home run and Scott Feldman threw six scoreless innings in a spot start for the AL West-leading Texas Rangers in a 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.
Hamilton hit the first pitch of the sixth inning thrown by rookie right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (11-10) deep into a second deck of seats in right field. It landed an estimated 449 feet from home plate, his 19th homer, and broke a scoreless tie.
Michael Young followed with a double and scored on a single by David Murphy.
Feldman (1-0) allowed only two hits before Mark Lowe, Darren Oliver, Mike Adams combined for two no-hit innings to set up Neftali Feliz for his 26th save in 32 chances. It was the Rangers’ 16th shutout this season.
The Rays, held scoreless for the 13th time this season, hit only four balls out of the infield, two in the ninth off Feliz, who got out of the jam when Evan Longoria grounded into a game-ending double play.
Feldman struck out four with one walk while starting in place of Matt Harrison. The Rangers skipped the 10-game winner just to give him a break, though the left-hander is expected to make his next scheduled start Sunday at Boston.
The Rangers may want to find another start for Feldman, who won 17 games in 2009 and was their opening day starter last season after getting a new contract. The right-hander had microfracture surgery on his right knee last November, and made seven relief appearance since July 22 before getting a chance to start this season.
Against Feldman, the only balls Tampa Bay got out of the infield were two singles. There were 12 groundouts, four strikeouts and two runners caught stealing in the 18 outs recorded while he was on the mound.
The Rays had hit 10 homers in their previous series against Toronto, a team-record for a series. But they barely got any balls off the ground in their first game at Texas since last season’s AL playoffs.
Hellickson is 1-3 in his five August starts despite a 2.49 ERA in that span. He struck out four and walked four, two of those intentional, while giving up two runs and six hits.
The Rangers still had the bases loaded after scoring twice in the sixth before Ian Kinsler, the last batter Hellickson faced, hit an inning-ending flyball on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.
There was a strange play in the third after Rodriguez had a two-out single for Tampa Bay. Desmond Jennings then hit a grounder to shortstop Elvis Andrus, who fielded the ball and then realized that Rodriguez had rounded second and was right behind him well away from the base. Andrus reached out, missed and then ran Rodriguez back to the bag, reaching out to tag the runner as he dived bac k into the base.
Second base umpire Wally Bell ruled Rodriguez safe, though a replay showed the tag was applied in time.
Texas got out of the inning quickly after that when Johnny Damon was retired on a comebacker.
Phillies 9, Reds 0
CINCINNATI — Whether he was running the bases on his three-run double or striking out another overmatched Reds batter, Roy Halladay looked awfully fresh.
The right-hander allowed a pair of hits in seven innings and drove in three runs with the second double of his career on Tuesday night, leading the Phillies to a 9-0 victory over a Cincinnati team that can’t figure out what to do against Philadelphia.
“We’re basically like we always have been,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “We play out the game. We stay with it.”
Halladay (16-5) gave up Brandon Phillips’ leadoff single in the first inning, then dominated the team he no-hit in the playoffs last season. His bases-loaded double in the sixth inning off Bronson Arroyo (8-11) made it 6-0.
It was especially pleasing for Halladay, given the way he’s been rained on the last few weeks. He pitched only twice during a 21-day stretch because of rainouts, the most recent one last Saturday, and was a little concerned about how it would affect him.
“I don’t know what the word is — it’s one of those things you can’t control,” said Halladay, who threw 108 pitches. “You’re trying to get into a rhythm and it makes it difficult.
“I felt fresh. I felt like my location early on wasn’t great. I got into a rhythm as the game went on.”
So did the rest of the Phillies.
Ryan Howard hit two of the Phillies’ four homers, giving him 29 for the season. He also reached 100 RBIs for the sixth straight year, a team record. Howard had been tied with Hall of Famer Chuck Klein for consecutive 100-RBI seasons.
Raul Ibanez returned from a strained groin and had a two-run homer among his three hits. Hunter Pence also hit a solo homer off Arroyo, who has given up the most in the majors.
The Phillies improved to 5-1 against the Reds this season and 19-6 lately. They swept their three-game division series last season, which started with Halladay throwing the second postseason no-hitter in history.
When he gets together with the Reds, memorable things tend to happen.
Any thoughts of another no-hitter were dismissed on his second pitch. Phillips singled to right field, extending his hitting streak to 13 games, the longest by a Red this season. The Reds wouldn’t get another hit until Joey Votto doubled in the seventh. Halladay walked two, hit one batter and fanned nine.
“Halladay wasn’t sharp early,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “He threw a lot of pitches. It’s always a game changer when you get on a guy like that early.”
Cincinnati couldn’t do it. The Reds managed four hits while getting blanked for the seventh time. Philadelphia’s 18 shutouts lead the majors.
Halladay will remember this one more for his swing.
He came to bat in the sixth with the bases loaded and lined a down-the-middle slider the opposite way into the right-field corner.
“I couldn’t tell you where it was,” Halladay said. “I’m guessing it was down the middle or I couldn’t have hit it.”
His awkward swing produced his first RBIs of the season and ended Arroyo’s outing. The right-hander fell to 1-7 career against the Phillies.
Howard connected off Arroyo in the fourth. Pence hit a chest-high pitch for a homer that started the rally in the sixth. Arroyo has given up 36 homers, the most ever by a Reds right-hander. Left-hander Eric Milton holds the franchise record of 40 homers allowed.
Notes: Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski shagged balls during batting practice and threw a ceremonial pitch. … It was Howard’s third multihomer game of the season and the 28th of his career. … After the game, the Phillies optioned RH Michael Schwimer to Triple-A. They’ll make a corresponding move on Wednesday. … The Phillies will start LH Cliff Lee in their third ga me against Cincinnati on Wednesday. Lee has won his last five starts. He beat the Reds on May 26 in Philadelphia, improving to 5-2 career against them. … Cincinnati will start left-hander Dontrel le Willis, who is still trying for that elusive first win of the season. He’s 0-3 after nine starts. The bullpen has blown three save chances behind him. … Paul Janish pinch-hit and flied out, le aving the Reds SS in an 0-for-23 rut.