Yankees blast Buchholz as Sox lose again

NEW YORK -- The Yankees tied a franchise record by launching four homers in a nine-run second inning and then coasted to a 10-2 victory over the Red Sox. The defeat was the sixth straight for the 69-91 Red Sox, who featured a lineup that included six players who opened the year in Triple-A Pawtucket and just two members of its Opening Day roster (Cody Ross and Jarrod Saltalamacchia). 

Buchholz served as batting practice fodder for the Yankees in the second inning. He gave up a solo homer to center by Robinson Cano to start the inning, then yielded back-to-back homers to Curtis Granderson (a two-run shot, the 41st homer of the year for the center fielder) and catcher Russell Martin to put the Sox in a 4-0 hole. Two walks, an Ichiro Suzuki RBI single, a sac fly and a Cano two-run double later, Buchholz was done after just 1 2/3 innings, the third shortest start of his big league career. 

Reliever Alfredo Aceves promptly gave up a two-run homer to the first batter he faced, Mark Teixeira, leaving a lifeless 87 mph pitch down the middle that the Yankees first baseman slammed into the second deck for a 9-0 lead. That closed the book on Buchholz, who permitted a career-high eight earned runs. With the loss, he fell to 11-8 with a 4.56 ERA. Still, he finished the year with a career-high 189 1/3 innings in 29 starts. 

The Yankees produced a quartet of homers in a single inning for the third time in franchise history. The team had also accomplished the feat on June 30, 1977, against the Blue Jays and on June 20, 2005, against the Rays. 

The Sox did avoid a shutout against left-hander CC Sabathia, as Daniel Nava lined a solo homer to right-center (his sixth of the year, and second in as many games) in the fourth, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia later added a sac fly. However, Sabathia was otherwise dominant, sailing through eight innings in just 103 pitches while striking out seven and walking one to improve to 15-6. 

With their win and a loss by the Orioles, the Yankees trimmed their magic number for the AL East title to two. The Red Sox, meanwhile, have lost six in a row, 10 of 11 and, dating to Aug. 28, they are 7-24. 

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