BOSTON — Masataka Yoshida delivered another huge hit against the Yankees on Friday.
On July 5 at Yankee Stadium, Yoshida homered with two outs in the ninth against Yankees closer Clay Holmes to tie the game, then Boston won in extra innings.
The Japanese DH did the job again against Holmes on Friday. He stroked a two-run single to center field against the righty with one out in the eighth inning here at Fenway Par to put the Red Sox ahead 9-7.
Kenley Jansen recorded the save in the ninth and Boston won 9-7 to improve to 5-2 against its top rival this season.
The Red Sox pulled out the victory despite blowing another late-inning lead when Aaron Judge crushed a 470-foot three-run homer off reliever Zack Kelly in the seventh inning.
Judge and Austin Wells went back-to-back against Kelly, turning a 4-3 deficit into a 7-4 Yankees lead. Judge’s homer went over the camera well in center field. It was his 36th blast this season and it left his bat at 114.4 mph.
But Ceddanne Rafaela’s two-run homer in the seventh cut it to 7-6.
Wilyer Abreu’s pinch hit RBI double in the eighth tied it, then Yoshida put Boston ahead.
Red Sox reliever Bailey Horn threw a scoreless eighth inning for his first ever major league win.
Sixth blown late-inning lead
It marked the sixth time the Red Sox have blown a lead in the seventh inning or later in seven games since returning from the All-Star break.
Boston blew a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning last Friday against the Dodgers. It blew both a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning and 6-4 lead in the 10th inning Saturday at Dodger Stadium. It also blew both a 7-5 lead in the 10th inning and 8-7 lead in the 12th inning Monday in Colorado.
Red Sox knock out Cortes after 4.2 innings
The Red Sox went ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning. They loaded the bases with one out against Yankees lefty Nestor Cortes when Rob Refsnyder and Connor Wong singled and Rafael Devers drew a four-pitch walk. Tyler O’Neill made it 1-0 when he knocked home Refsnyder on a sacrifice fly to left field.
The Yankees tied it 1-1 in the second inning on Anthony Volpe’s 409-foot home run to center field.
Devers’ RBI single in the third inning made it 2-1. He knocked in Wong who had doubled.
Boston went ahead 3-1 in the fourth on Refsnyder’s RBI double that plated Romy Gonzalez.
Refsnyder now is 8-for-16 in his career against Cortes.
The Yankees tied it 3-3 in the fifth on Trent Grisham’s RBI double and Alex Verdugo’s RBI sac fly.
Boston regained the lead 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth on Masataka Yoshida’s sac fly that scored Devers who had walked.
Devers went 1-for-1 with two walks against New York’s left-handed starter.
Cortes allowed just one run in 6 innings against Boston on July 5. But he lasted just 4 ⅔ innings in this start, giving up four runs, nine hits and two walks while striking out five.
Saturday’s matchup
The Red Sox and Yankees play the second game of their three-game series Saturday at 7:15 p.m. Yankees righty Marcus Stroman (7-5, 3.51 ERA) will start opposite Red Sox righty Kutter Crawford (6-8, 3.37 ERA).
