Yankees pound Red Sox early, hold off late comeback to land first punch with rivalry win

A rivalry that has featured its fair share of fisticuffs over the years has been relatively peaceful of late, and remained that way in its first iteration of the season. 

The only punches thrown in The Bronx on Friday came from the Yankees’ bats, and they did not waste any time landing them. 

The Yankees pounded Walker Buehler for seven runs in the first two innings and then hung on late to sink the Red Sox further into misery with a 9-6 win in front of a sellout crowd of 46,783 at the Stadium.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. rounds the bases after homering during the Yankees’ win against the Red Sox on June 6.

Anthony Volpe and Jasson Dominguez celebrate during the Yankees’ win against the Red Sox on June 6.

Walker Buehler reacts after allowing a homer to Anthony Volpe during the Yankees’ win on June 6.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. led the offensive attack, continuing his tear since a Tuesday return from the injured list by going 3-for-5 with two steals and a three-run homer, which started the scoring in the first inning.

Aaron Judge added another ho-hum three-hit game to raise his average to .397 while Anthony Volpe and Paul Goldschmidt each clubbed home runs. 

In the process, the Yankees (39-23) climbed to a season-high 16 games above .500 and continued to build distance between them and the fourth-place Red Sox (30-35), who have lost nine of their last 12. 

“Put distance between us and the whole league, that’s what we really want to do,” Chisholm said. “We not only want to win the division, but we want to win every category. We want to be the best team in MLB. That’s why we’re out here trying to win the World Series. We already went there last year and we thought we had it and we didn’t have it. So this year, we’re going to make sure we have it.” 

The only real concern of the night for the Yankees was Volpe leaving the game after three innings with a left elbow contusion that required X-rays and a CT scan.

Will Warren throws a pitch during the Yankees’ win against the Red Sox on June 6.

But they came back negative and the shortstop, who drove in three runs, plans on playing Saturday. 

The Yankees’ seven runs in the first two innings — all coming with two outs — matched their output from the entire three-game series against the Guardians this week, giving Will Warren plenty of run support as he cruised early before hitting a wall in the sixth. 

“When the guys put up five and then two, you can roll out there and fill up the zone with heaters and make them do something,” said Warren, who gave up four runs in 5 ¹/₃ innings while bouncing back from a brutal outing against the Dodgers last weekend. “I have a great defense behind me, so have at it.” 

The Red Sox’s pitching has been a mess, especially of late, as Friday marked the third time in the last four games that their starter has given up six runs or more in two innings or fewer.

This time it was Walker Buehler, who last stood on the Yankee Stadium mound to close out the Dodgers’ World Series championship in Game 5 last October. 

On Friday, the Yankees ambushed him with a five-run first inning, which marked the 15th time this season they have scored five runs or more in a single inning — tied with the Cubs for the most in the majors. They had 15 such innings all of last season, 16 in 2023, 19 in 2022 and nine in 2021. 

Paul Goldschmidt hit a solo home run in the Yankees’ win over the Red Sox.

After Trent Grisham led off with a full-count walk and Judge doubled, Buehler got two outs before throwing an 0-2 curveball below the zone to Chisholm.

The third baseman got just enough of it to clear the wall in center field for a three-run blast, his ninth of the year. 

After missing more than a month with an oblique strain, Chisholm is 8-for-16 with two home runs, six RBIs and three steals in four games since coming back. He said playing at “70 percent” is helping him instead of being out of control at 100 percent. 

Austin Wells scores during the Yankees’ win against the Red Sox on June 6.

“He’s a game-changer,” Judge said. 

Jasson Domínguez kept the rally going with a single before Volpe drilled Buehler’s 95 mph fastball down the middle to right field for his eighth home run of the year. 

After forcing Buehler to throw 33 pitches in the first inning, the Yankees made him throw 34 more in the second while piling on with Chisholm’s RBI single and Volpe’s bases-loaded, RBI hit-by-pitch that made it 7-0. 

Austin Wells of the New York Yankees greets Devin Williams after the last out.

The Yankees celebrate their series-opening win over the rival Red Sox.

Judge added an RBI single in the fifth before Goldschmidt homered in the sixth, not just resting on their big inning being enough. 

“It’s happened to us in the World Series where we were up five in the [third] inning,” Chisholm said. “So that shouldn’t mean anything to us at all. It feels good, but it shouldn’t mean anything to us. We’ve already lost doing that.”