Red Sox take series in New York, keep Yanks reeling
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Boston Red Sox ended April on a high, thanks to another listless performance by the New York Yankees.
David Ortiz, Alex Cora and Manny Ramirez homered, Julian Tavarez got his first win of the season and the Red Sox beat New York 7-4 Sunday, sending the Yankees to their eighth loss in nine games.
Boston is 5-1 against New York, and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is angry about his team's slow start, possibly disappointed enough that manager Joe Torre's job may be in jeopardy.
With both teams off Monday, the Yankees (9-14) ended the month 6.5 games back of the AL East-leading Red Sox (16-8).
Tavarez (1-2) and four relievers held New York to seven hits, with Jonathan Papelbon pitching the ninth for his eighth save in eight chances.
New York's only runs came on a three-run homer in the third by Doug Mientkiewicz, who is hitting .154, and a solo shot in the eighth by Derek Jeter that extended his hitting streak to 17 games. After hitting 14 homers in his first 18 games, Alex Rodriguez hit none in his final five of the month, leaving him tied with Albert Pujols for the April record.
Chien-Ming Wang (0-2), in his second start since recovering from a hamstring injury, failed to hold a 3-2 lead. He repeatedly left pitches up and allowed four runs and six hits in six innings.
Boston made it 5-3 in the seventh against Scott Proctor before Ramirez, hitting just .188 entering the game, hit a two-run homer to right off Sean Henn in the eighth. Ramirez became only the fifth player to hit 50 homers against the Yankees, joining Jimmie Foxx (70), Ted Williams (62), Hank Greenberg (53) and Carl Yastrzemski (52).
Ortiz's first-inning homer went into the right-field upper deck, a no-doubt drive that set an early tone, and Coco Crisp's leadoff triple in the third and Cora's RBI grounder made it 2-0. Julio Lugo and Kevin Youkilis followed with singles, but when Ortiz hit a topper in front of the plate and catcher Jorge Posada threw to first, Lugo tried to score and was tagged out by Wang for a 2-3-1 double play.
Mientkiewicz, hitting just .140 with two RBIs, put the Yankees ahead 3-2 when he homered in the bottom half. Wang hit Crisp on the lower left leg with a pitch in the fifth, and Cora followed with his second homer of the season. Ortiz ended the inning when he grounded into Boston's third double play.
When Mientkiewicz hit a roller to the right side in the bottom half, Tavarez raced to the bag and Mientkiewicz slid into him hard, prompting a short discussion.
Cora tripled high off the right-field wall against Proctor in the seventh, above a leaping Bobby Abreu, and scored on Lugo's sacrifice fly.
Notes: Red Sox manager Terry Francona rested RF J.D. Drew in favor of Eric Hinske, who entered 10-for-16 with two homers against Wang. ... Yankees RHP Carl Pavano (sore forearm), who hasn't pitched since April 9, threw about 45 pitches in a bullpen session, about 20 from the top of the mound. He probably will throw again Tuesday or Wednesday. ... Boston's Mike Lowell went 0-for-2, ending his hitting streak at 14 games. ... Abreu's eighth-inning single ended an 0-for-19 slide, the longest of his major league career.
