The New York Yankees took the opener of a weekend series by defeating the Boston Red Sox 6-4 on Friday night.
The Yanks were supported by five long balls on the night. Nick Swisher was the star, hitting two of them. Also homering in the game were Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin and Derek Jeter. Jeter's home run was the 250th of his career. Jeter and Willie Mays are the the only players to record at least 3,000 hits, 250 home runs, 300 stolen bases and 1,200 RBIs.
New York also got a fairly strong pitching performance from Phil Hughes. The pitcher went seven innings and while he gave up four [unearned] runs, he allowed only four hits and surrendered a single walk. Hughes' own third-inning error led to Boston's only runs, three of which came on a Dustin Pedroia home run. The bullpen of David Robertson and Rafael Soriano closed the door on Boston, keeping them scoreless the rest of the way.
For more on the Yankees, check out SB Nation blog Pinstripe Alley. For the Red Sox, head over to Over the Monster.