MLB wrap: Red Sox's blowout of Yankees keyed by another rough Masahiro Tanaka start

Thomas Lott

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MLB wrap: Red Sox's blowout of Yankees keyed by another rough Masahiro Tanaka start image

Boston and New York have a lot of high-scoring games, but they're normally more balanced than Thursday's matchup.

The Red Sox defeated the Yankees 19-3 to "cut" their deficit to New York in the division to 10 games. They did so by once again shelling starter Masahiro Tanaka.

Boston knocked Tanaka out of his start in the London Series in the first inning, and while it didn't do that on Thursday, it started pummeling him from the very beginning.

The Red Sox plated seven runs in the first inning off of Tanaka, the most scored in an opening frame for Boston against the Yankees since 1989.

It scored 12 runs off of him in total, which is the second most any team has scored off of a Yankee pitcher since earned runs became official in 1913.

The team finished the day with eight players registering multiple RBIs, which tied an American League record.

New York probably won't want to pitch Tanaka against Boston in the postseason if the two teams somehow face off.

The Red Sox have 11 games left this year against the Yankees and will go into Friday's matchup with Andrew Cashner on the mound.

Studs of the Night

Jacob deGrom threw seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts in the Mets' 4-0 win over the Padres.

Daniel Murphy went 3 for 5 with a home run, double and two RBIs in the Rockies' 8-7 win over the Nationals.

Nelson Cruz went 3 for 5 with three home runs in the Twins' 10-3 win over the White Sox. Minnesota hit five homers in the game and has now hit five or more home runs nine times this season, which breaks the all-time record set by the Red Sox in 1977.

Dud of the Night

Lucas Giolito gave up seven runs in five innings of work and three home runs to Cruz in his first three at-bats.

Highlight

John Gant got his 14th hold of the season and made an appearance on the Pitching Ninja. The Cardinals beat the Pirates, 6-3.

What's Next

Braves (60-43) at Phillies (54-48), 7:05 p.m. ET — The Phillies haven't played great this year, but they still sit just 5 1/2 games back of the Braves for first in the National League East with a three-game series coming up. They get to start with Jake Arrieta (8-7, 4.40 ERA), too, which could get the series going nicely. The problem is, they'll have to face Mike Soroka (10-2, 2.46), who has been very good this season.

 

Thomas Lott