Red Sox Ambush Gerrit Cole, Get Second Sweep of Yankees This Season

Kiké Hernández and Rafael Devers homered in the first inning as the Boston Red Sox hammered Gerrit Cole, routing the New York Yankees 9-2 to complete a second straight sweep of their longtime rivals. J.D. Martinez and Christian Vázquez also homered for the Red Sox. Boston outscored the Yankees 18-7 in the three-game series at Fenway Park, improving to 6-0 against them this year and improving to a season-best 16 games above .500. Eduardo Rodriguez (6-4) was solid in earning his first win in nine starts. Cole allowed six runs and three homers in five innings. Cole’s spin rates have slipped in recent starts, adding to speculation he’s had trouble adjusting to MLB’s recent crackdown on pitchers using substances to get traction on balls.