Ted Williams was piloting fighter jets in Korea the last time the New York Yankees dominated the Boston Red Sox like this.
Luke Voit homered twice, Aroldis Chapman returned from the COVID-19 injured list to pitch the ninth inning and the Yankees defeat the Red Sox 6-3 Monday night for their 10th consecutive victory in the famed rivalry.
New York capped a four-game sweep and is on its best run versus Boston since winning a franchise-record 12 consecutive games in 1952-53 — a stretch when Williams was serving in the Korean War.
“When you bring up that name, obviously that’s a long time,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously it’s a stretch where we’ve had a few really good series against them. They’ve had some things not go their way against them. I don’t put a whole lot into it. We go onward and upward.”
The AL East-leading Yankees have won six in a row — despite injuries to Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu — since dropping three of four at Tampa Bay from Aug. 7-9. They start a three-game home series versus the second-place Rays on Tuesday night. New York is 10-0 at Yankee Stadium this season.
“We’re locked in,” Voit said. “Doesn’t matter who it is, we’ll be ready to go.”
The Red Sox have dropped 10 consecutive games in the Bronx and are 1-15 at Yankee Stadium since blasting “New York, New York” in the visitors’ clubhouse after eliminating the Yankees in the 2018 AL Division Series en route to a World Series title.
“I think the only thing I can tell is they have no rings, I have one,” catcher Christian Vázquez said. “We beat them in the playoffs. I like my ring.”
Boston lost its eighth consecutive game overall.
Thairo Estrada and Aaron Hicks also homered for New York. Estrada connected shortly after the game was delayed 1 hour, 23 minutes by rain during the fourth inning.
Chapman permitted a triple to José Peraza and an RBI single to Jonathan Araúz but struck out Kevin Pillar and Rafael Devers to end the game. His final pitch was a 101.3 mph fastball that Devers swung through.
“I was really excited by what I saw just as far as his stuff,” Boone said.
Chapman was activated Monday after testing positive for the coronavirus during preseason workouts. The All-Star left-hander had only mild symptoms and has been training at the team’s alternate site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, since being cleared July 31.
