Urshela slam, Judge HR lead Yanks over Bosox, 5th win in row

NEW YORK (AP) — Gio Urshela hit his first big league grand slam, Aaron Judge homered for a career-high fourth straight game and the New York Yankees extended their winning streak to five with a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.

Nick Nelson (1-0) pitched three hitless innings to win his major league debut. At 6-1, the Yankees are off to their best start since 2003 -- the equivalent of 16-3 over a 162-game season. Boston dropped to 3-6.

Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka made his season debut after recovering from a concussion sustained when he was hit in the head by Giancarlo Stanton's line drive during practice on July 4. Tanaka lasted just 2 2/3 innings and 51 pitches, tiring in his second time through the order.

Xander Bogaerts chased Tanaka with an RBI double, and a second run scored on the play when shortstop Gleyber Torres dropped a throw from the outfield for an error.

Left-hander Luis Avilán followed and got four straight outs, and Nelson entered to start the fifth. A 24-year-old right-hander who pitched at three minor league levels last year, Nelson started with a three-pitch strikeout of Tzu-Wei Lin. He threw at up to 97.8 mph with four strikeouts and two walks.

David Hale finished the six-hitter for his third career save, his first this year.

Judge homered in the first inning off Zack Godley (0-1), a 455-foot drive to left-center. Urshela hit his second homer of the season an inning later for a 5-0 lead, following three straight singles with a fly into the netting above Monument Park. The Yankees' first 10 runs of the series all scored on homers.

Urshela also made a sparking defensive play at third base in the sixth, snagging Christian Vázquez’s grounder, steadying in foul territory and throwing on the fly to first to beat the...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Urshela-slam-Judge-HR-lead-Yanks-over-Bosox-5th-15452043.php