Red Sox hammer Cole, rout Yanks 9-2 for another 3-game sweep

BOSTON (AP) — 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 Sunday 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. He gave up a two-run homer to Aaron Judge in the sixth but held New York to five hits and struck out eight in six innings.

Cole (8-4) allowed six runs on eight hits, including three homers, in five innings. He walked two, struck out six and threw a wild pitch.

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. He was checked by umpires for sticky stuff after giving up four runs and four hits in the first inning.

Boston quickly put Cole and the Yankees in a hole.

Hernández jumped on Cole’s first pitch of the game — a 96 mph fastball — and drove it just over the top of the Green Monster for his seventh home run of the season. It marked the first time Cole had allowed a homer on his first pitch of a game.

Alex Verdugo then doubled and J.D. Martinez drew a walk. Xander Bogaerts flied out, but three pitches later Devers got ahold of Cole’s 100 mph four-seam fastball and crushed a drive 450 feet into the right-field seats for his 19th home run of the season.

Never before in Cole’s nine major league seasons had he surrendered multiple homers in the first inning.

Things got worse in the third when Martinez sat on Cole’s...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Red-Sox-hammer-Cole-rout-Yanks-9-2-for-another-16277730.php