BOSTON — David Ortiz smashed a two-run home run with one out in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 win over the New York Yankees in the first of 19 meetings between the two rivals on Friday night at Fenway Park.
Ortiz’s homer was his fourth of the season and landed in the first row beyond the Green Monster in left field. The decisive hit came off of Yankees’ reliever Dellin Betances (0-2), and Ortiz had gone 0-for-7 against Betances with four strikeouts before Friday’s late-game heroics.
Jackie Bradley Jr. also had a pair of RBIs for Boston (13-10), which has won five of its last six games following Thursday’s 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
Boston’s Henry Owens fared better than he did in his season debut, allowing just two runs on six hits and three walks and striking out two in a five-inning no-decision Friday.
The left-hander gave up three runs on five hits and walked four in 3 1/3 innings last Sunday at Houston, a game the Red Sox won 7-5 in 12 innings.
Koji Uehara (1-1) struck out one in a scoreless eighth inning and Craig Kimbrel shut the door in the ninth for his seventh save of the year.
Alex Rodriguez hit a solo home run and Brett Gardner drove in a run to push his hitting streak at Fenway Park to 12 games for New York (8-13), which has lost 12 of its last 16.
Carlos Beltran’s 15-game hitting streak at Fenway ended after an 0-for-4 night.
Masahiro Tanaka put up zeroes through 6 2/3 innings for the Yankees, but gave up a two-out, two-run double to Bradley in the seventh inning that tied the game.
Tanaka couldn’t make it through seven innings for the sixth start in a row against Boston, surrendering two runs on six hits while striking out five in a no-decision.
Rodriguez’s second-inning blast clanged off the light tower in left-center and put New York ahead 1-0.
Starlin Castro tripled two at-bats later, but was later thrown out at home plate by Red Sox left fielder Brock Holt when Castro tried to tag and score on Chase Headley’s fly ball.
Boston moved a runner over to third in the bottom of the second, but Ryan Hanigan struck out swinging to end the frame.
Gardner’s single in the fifth drove home Didi Gregorius from second and made it 2-0. The Yankees threatened to score more after an Owens wild pitch put runners on second and third, but Beltran popped out to end the inning.
NOTES: New York had won 11 of its last 15 games against Boston at Fenway Park. … Boston sent RHP Carson Smith on a rehab assignment to Double-A Portland on Friday. … Former Red Sox LHP Edwin Escobar was claimed off waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. Escobar was designated for assignment on April 20. … Thirty years ago Friday, Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens, then 23 years old, struck out a major-league-record 20 batters in a 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park. The 11-time All-Star and seven-time Cy Young Award winner spent 13 seasons with the Red Sox and later played six seasons with the Yankees, winning World Series titles with the club in 1999 and 2000. … Yankees RHP Michael Pineda (1-2, 6.95 ERA) faces Red Sox RHP Rick Porcello (4-0, 3.51 ERA) on Saturday.
Blue Jays 6, Rays 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Michael Saunders hit two home runs and Aaron Sanchez pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Friday.
Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson and second baseman Ryan Goins hit solo home runs while first baseman Justin Smoak had a two-run single as Toronto won the opener of a three-game series.
Rays shortstop Brad Miller had a home run and starter Drew Smyly struck out eight over six innings to tie the team record for strikeouts in April.
Sanchez gave up six hits and struck out six on 103 pitches (71 strikes).
Saunders’ second homer — his fourth of the season — was part of a three-run eighth inning for the Blue Jays that put the game out of reach. Saunders took a 2-2 pitch to right field over the 370-foot wall off Rays reliever Dana Eveland. Smoak added a bases-loaded single to score Donaldson and right fielder Jose Bautista to give Toronto a 5-0 lead.
Miller hit his second home run of the season off Drew Storen in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-1.
Goins hit his first home run of the season off Rays right hander Jhan Marinez in the top of the ninth.
Saunders belted a 2-0 pitch from Rays starter Drew Smyly over the center-field wall to give Toronto a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
Logan Forsythe had a single and double in his first two at-bats for the Rays, but Sanchez pitched well against the rest of the lineup.
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash was ejected in the top of the fifth inning for arguing with the home plate umpire.